Video: Bastyr camp introduces traditional medical students to natural medicine

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Summer camp usually conjures up ideas of cabins, canoeing and hiking, but the concept is expanding. At Bastyr University, they hold a summer camp ever year. While the courses are predictable, the "campers" aren't.

Dr. Sheila Kingsbury is cooking up medicinal herbs. But it's not exactly culinary class.

"When you make an elixir, you want it to be extremely concentrated," said Kingsbury.

Her students aren't future naturopathic physicians as you might expect, but medical school students, and skeptical ones at that.

"I still pictured that coming out here that everything would be way out in left field and that maybe I wouldn't be comfortable with everything that we're doing," said Jennifer Wong-Sick-Hong, medical student.

That's proving not to be the case.

"It's lovely to see they kind of broaden their view of what these alternative therapies are," said Kingsbury.

Oddly enough, the idea for complimentary and alternative medicine, or CAM Camp, came from a University of Washington professor who wanted medical students to have a better understanding of natural medicine. The 4-week camp now attracts students from all over the country. Katie is from Vermont, Jennifer from Michigan. Both say it's been eye-opening.

"That we as physicians don't heal patients, we just remove what's in the way to their own healing process. (I) hadn't thought about that," said Katie.

"It makes sense, but it's not part of our traditional western education," said Jennifer.

The curriculum includes everything from nutrition to Chinese medicine to herbal medicine, all back up by science.

"They know what that is, what good care is. Because most of them, if they didn't know how to judge quality of care in the CAM therapies, then they would be writing them all off," said Kingsbury.

"It's not a western versus alternative medicine. It's 'let's find the best solution,'" said Katie Mygatt, medical student.

The goal isn't for MDs to practice alternative medicine, but to be better informed so they can refer their future patients. The camp is now in its seventh year.