Blackmores Institute proudly accepted the inaugural NutraIngredients-Asia Nutrition Research Program of the Year award, for their ground-breaking CMEd (Complementary Medicines Education) Program.
Blackmores Institutes’ CMEd is an education program embedded within a larger research project. The research centred around pharmacist’s complementary medicine knowledge and interest in complementary medicine education. The researchers then monitored how a Blackmores Institute developed intervention, CMEd, would help to reduce the knowledge gap.
Blackmores Institute Director Dr Lesley Braun said:
“I am so very proud that Blackmores Institute’s work has been recognised by our industry peers. It has taken several years, many people’s skills and dedication, courage and vision to do something new and innovative and I’d like to thank everyone involved,”
To begin, a theory was developed, based on Braun’s earlier Australian research, that pharmacists know little about complementary medicines, but are keen to learn more.
This theory was tested with research conducted Dr Pei Nee Wong at Taylor’s University Malaysia, where similar findings were seen among Malaysian pharmacists. Read the published research paper here.
Based on the results of this initial research an intervention was developed, CMEd, which offers a blended education program comprised of an online program teaching the fundamentals of complementary medicine, and a face-to-face workshop to solidify the learning.
With the support of the Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society, Blackmores Institute set about launching the CMEd program nationwide. More than 600 Malaysian pharmacists are accredited in the CMEd program. They then tracked how pharmacists’ knowledge about complementary medicines improved.
The results of the intervention have been tracked through individual pharmacist feedback, with positive results. Most recently this has also been cross referenced through a mystery shopper survey led by Dr Wong’s research team, with preliminary results due shortly.
Blackmores Institute accepted the Award at a ceremony in Singapore on September 10 held at the Marina Bay Sands which saw winners across 10 different categories receiving recognition.
Given the successful research results, the CMEd program will be launched in Thailand later this year with new partnerships in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore to be announced shortly.
In addition to this, the Blackmores Institute team are hard at work developing the intermediate level of CMEd, with plans for several additional levels in the pipeline.
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