Training Materials Index
New Open Learning Masters in Complementary& Integrated Health Sciences
26 September 05
“Health care professionals are often very well skilled in their complementary or alternative medical field”, the project co-ordinator, Chris Endler, said. “But they are looking for a wider horizon: for knowledge on public health, for a psychological qualification, for interdisciplinary co-operation in the fields of biology, medicine, health sciences, humanities, philosophy of science and complementary medicine. They want to know the state of the art in research, and many of them want to participate in the research process themselves.”
  
The topics included in the EU Master’s programme in Complementary Health Sciences are:
 
·  health promotion (WHO), individual and community promotion of health:                                    
health-related knowledge, fundamentals of salutogenesis
·  deepening of psychosocial skills (fundamentals of depth psychology)                                         
·  competency in communication in therapeutic relationships and in public work
·  understanding paradigms and outlines of complementary approaches – including regulatory biology
·  the state of research in complementary medicine
·  participation in research studies, designing  and performing these studies,                               
and writing a scientific thesis.
 
The project is co-ordinated by the Interuniversity College for Health and Development Graz/Castle of Seggau (www.inter-uni.net). At present, this is the only supported distance-learning course that leads to an EU MSc in Complementary Health Sciences. A pioneering spirit is a prerequisite for enrolling on the course as it includes individual, personal growth in addition to fulfilling methodical-technical and intellectual training.
The MSc takes three years part-time. Students meet for two-four day seminars each year at their local campuses, for the English speaking course this will be at Schengen castle in Luxemburg on the border of three countries.  There will be lectures, psychosocial and Balint groups and supported mutual exchange.
 
 
 In between these seminars - students are expected to invest a couple of hours three times a week (or 6 hrs once a week) in multimedia and tutor-supported home studies and the rest of the week in applying the newly learned knowledge and skills to their everyday work and life, along side reading material tailored to their interest. The outcome of this process is then fed back into their studies.  Students write about how what they have read relates to, and informs, their professional work and/or life.  The work of all members of the group is commented on by the tutor and fed back to the whole group.   So in the small group (ten to fifteen people in each case), made up of people from different disciplines, you can see that interesting opinions are going to be exchanged. Hence the e-learning interaction does not just take place between the student and the computer, it takes place between those at home, the lecturer and the other participants.  Trans-national interaction - that of students as well as staff - creates a very special academic atmosphere where cultural and interprofessional ideas are voiced.
 
One third of the course is dedicated to preparing a Master’s thesis. This may be based on the Interuniversity College’s lines of research (www.inter-uni.net > research) following the interests of the university staff, or that of the student’s individual background.
 
The study course offers psychosocial and scientific education which adds to previously learned  expertise and experience. “The questions at the centre of the debate are: ‘What type of health are we really looking for?’ and ‘How can this be achieved and safeguarded?’ ”, comments Hubertus Hommel, a doctor. dentist and  graduate of the pilot version and also a teacher on the Master’s study course at the German campus.
 
All procedures, on site as well as on the Internet campus, are based on the group dynamic model of theme-focused interaction. The focus is on the development of observation, reflection and communication skills.
 
A basic, binding element which shapes the atmosphere of the study course, is ongoing work in closed Balint groups.
 

What is a Balint group?
 
A Balint group is a group of around ten to fifteen therapists, who, under the leadership of a group facilitator, handle issues about difficult therapist-patient relationships. Here a member of the group presents a problematic, also possibly negative encounter, and the other members of the group voice their feelings and thoughts about it in association. In this way an extended picture of the “problematic relationship” is created, which later enables a modified, mainly helpful approach to patients.
 
 Michael Balint’s generally established technique, used in the further education of doctors and teachers, serves to optimise the relationship in educational, psychosocial or therapeutic communication and to strengthen students’ psychosocial expertise. Self-awareness is employed in both case and project work.  Elements of the group dynamic and group communication help people to reflect on their relationships, and group proceedings can be transferred – reflecting prospective social-professional relationships.  Hence the approach integrates intellectual, emotional and practical elements.

 
If you are interested in this course and would like further information, please see www.inter-uni.net or email or Phone  Pam Schickler on +44207 435 6316 or
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