The need for higher education in the sociology of traditional and non-conventional medicine in Italy: towards a person-centered medicine

• Published in: The EPMA journal Vol. 2; no. 4; pp. 357 - 363
• Main Authors: Roberti di Sarsina, Paolo, Tognetti Bordogna, Mara
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central 01-12-2011; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Netherlands
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Higher education; Medicine; Medicine/Public Health; Review; Review Article; Italy; National health system; Traditional medicine; Person-centered medicine; Personalized medicine; Regional health systems; Non-conventional medicine
• ISSN: 1878-5077; 1878-5085
• DOI: 10.1007/s13167-011-0102-1

Italy is being forced to re-think her health plan as the national health service moves towards regional systems, individuals take more active responsibility for their health, the demand grows for traditional and non-conventional medicine and immigrants join the user list. Person-centered medicine and ever-wider skills attainable with the tools of analysis and research have made a new professional update indispensable. The proposed Master-Course on “Health systems, traditional and non-conventional medicine”, first of its kind in Italy, fits this bill. The new forms of treatment that state and international bodies are prepared to recognize depend entirely on the universities training our professionals with concrete skills in planning, research and health management. Our paper performs an epistemological critique of the new health requirements and goes on to outline the reasons behind this training imperative.