Time Schedule:
Gary W Elmer
MEDCH 525
Seattle Campus
Study of popular alternative and complementary medicines used in the United States. Focus on herbal products with some coverage of homeopathic and other non-nutritional dietary supplements. Demonstration of resources for current objective information on these controversial medicines. Credit/no-credit only. Offered: A
Class description
A 2 credit (credit/no credit) offered as a self-paced online elective course for pharmacy students. Nonmajors by permission only.After enrolling for autumn quarter, students will have until the following autumn quarter to complete requirements for the course, except for the research paper which is due prior to the start of summer quarter.Students will study popular alternative and complementary medicines used for important diseases in the United States. The focus is on herbal products with some coverage of homeopathic and other non-nutritional dietary supplements. Resources for current objective information on these controversial medicines will be demonstrated and will be available online for study and for use.
Requirements for course credit: A score of at least 70/100 on the two multiple choice exams. Exams will be “open notes” but taken at the UW Testing Center and completed prior to Sept 1 of the year following enrollment. On week 1 attend the first (and only) lecture. On week 2 or week 3 attend a tour of the UW Medicinal Herb Garden Complete a 3-4 page research paper on an herbal product or dietary supplement of interest to you but one not covered in class. The paper must be turned in prior to June 1 of the year following enrollment.
Student learning goals
Learning Objectives: After the successful completion of this course, students will be able to: • Efficiently select and use the best electronic and print resources to obtain objective information about the attributes and risks of using specific herbal products and other dietary supplements • Describe the USA regulatory status of herbal products and dietary supplements and be able to advocate for changes that will benefit effective consumer use. • Describe the botanical origin, active ingredients, efficacious uses and risks for the most popularly used herbals in the USA. • Indicate which herbals or other dietary supplements have evidence based utility for common human diseases. • Use information presented in this course to select the best quality products from the myriad of commercially available herbals and dietary supplements.
see class website
General method of instruction
oneline, self paced
Recommended preparation
Pharmacy major or by permission for nonmajors
Class assignments and grading
see class website
see class website
