Abstract
Objectives : This study was aimed to investigate attitude of western medicine(WM), Korean medicine (KM), and nursing school students toward the east-west collaborative medical practices(EWCMP). Methods : The participants were 185 WM students, 123 KM students, and 230 nursing students belonging to two universities (P and D) in Busan metropolitan city, Korea. Data were collected with self-administered questionnaires and analyzed with descriptive statistics, $X^2$ test, t-test and ANOVA with SPSS win 14.0. Results : Of 538 participants, overall 87.1% has heard EWCMP. Preferred type of EWCMP was significantly different by participants' backgrounds. WM students preferred (western) medical treatment with minor supportive Korean medical care(85.5%). However, KM students emphasized EWCMP with the same weight in both medical and Korean medical treatment(59.0%), and nursing students were in between two schools. Intention to recommend EWCMP for the consumer was 67.4%, and also showed very different between WM students and others, 37.3% of WM students, 89.4% of KM students, and 83.9% of nursing students. WM students showed more negative opinion on the EWCMP than KM and nursing students, Conclusions : The attitude of WM, KM, and nursing school students toward EWCMP was very similar to that of WM doctors, KM doctors, and nurses, respectively. WM students showed big difference in the overall attitude toward EWCMP from that of KM and nursing students. It is recommended to introduce the joint curriculum or exchange programs between WM and KM schools.
