The Effect of a Traditional Chinese Medicine Course on Western Medicine Students’ Attitudes Toward Traditional Chinese Medicine: Self-Controlled Pre-Post Questionnaire Study

Background: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) hasbeen widely used to treat various diseases in China for thousands of years and has shown satisfactory effectiveness. However, many surveys found that TCM receives little recognition from Western medicine (WM) physicians and students. At present, TCM is offered as a compulsory course for WM students in WM schools. Objective: This study aimed to investigate whether TCM courses can affect the WM students' attitude toward TCM. Methods: WM students from Xiangya Medical School were invited to completeaweb-based questionnaire before and immediately after a TCM course. Their attitude toward TCM and treatment preferences for different kinds of diseases were tested. The Attitude Scale of TCM (ASTCM) was used. The main part of the ASTCM was designed to measure the attitude of medical students towardTCM. It consisted of 18 items, divided into cognitive dimension (5 terms), emotional dimension (8 terms), and behavioral tendencyfactor (5 terms). Results: Finally, the results of 118 five-year program (FYP) and 36 eight-year program (EYP) students were included. For FYP students, there was a significant increase in the total mean score (66.42, SD 7.66 vs 71.43, SD 7.38;P