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Core Texts

As an element of the ACAMRTP curriculum on CAM research per se, the Program will require as core reference texts the following books: Institute of Medicine Report, Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the U.S. (2005)(Committee. 2005), Lewith et al (eds),Clinical Research in Complementary Therapies. Principles, Problems, and Solutions (2002)(Lewith 2002), Trochim, The Research Methods Knowledge Base. 2nd ed. (1999)(Trochim 2001), Pope and Mays (eds). Qualitative Research in Health Care (2000)(Pope 2000), (Silverman 2005; Tashakkori 1998), Ogden and Goldberg, Research Proposals. A Guide to Success. 3rd ed. (2002)(Ogden 2002), and Huth, Writing and Publishing in Medicine (3rd ed). Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins (1999) (Huth 1999).

As updated research-oriented books become available, trainees who choose research in specific CAM systems will be expected to read and master the content and concepts of topic-specific books as well as current research journal literature during independent study with their mentors. For example, at present, trainees who choose acupuncture research will also be expected to read Stux and Hammerschlag (eds) - Clinical Acupuncture: Scientific Basis (2001)(Stux 2001). Similarly, for homeopathy research, trainees will be expected to read Ernst and Hahn (eds) - Homeopathy: A Critical Appraisal (1998)(Ernst 1998). For a non-mathematical introduction to complex systems and network science, they will read Barabasi's Linked. How Everything is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means for Business, Science, and Everyday Life (Barabasi 2003) and Kauffman's At Home in the Universe : The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity (Kauffman 1995). As new editions or other salient reference texts become available, those will be substituted for the above-listed texts.

The suggestion of these texts does not imply complete philosophical or scientific agreement with their contents. Rather, these materials provide thoughtful and thought-provoking starting points for serious discussions about the challenges of designing, implementing, analyzing, and interpreting CAM studies in a systems theory context. Mentoring committees, with the guidance of the Executive Committee of the ACAMRTP, will develop specific, individualized reading list expectations for independent study with mentors during the course of training.