General Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Medical Systems

Types of Degrees General Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Medical Systems Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many general alternative and complementary medicine and medical systems graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	146
Bachelor’s Degree	107
Undergraduate Certificate	70
Associate Degree	42
Master’s Degree	40
Graduate Certificate	37

What General Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Medical Systems Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to general alternative and complementary medicine and medical systems and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for General Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Medical Systems Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in general alternative and complementary medicine and medical systems should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

Skills for General Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Medical Systems Majors

general alternative and complementary medicine and medical systems majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• Science - Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Abilities for General Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Medical Systems Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a general alternative and complementary medicine and medical systems student include the following:

• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

What Can You Do With a General Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Medical Systems Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with general alternative and complementary medicine and medical systems:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Orthoptists	13.3%	$73,960

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in General Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Medical Systems?

The major attracts more women than men. About 85% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of general alternative and complementary medicine and medical systems majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	0
Black or African American	18
Hispanic or Latino	22
White	58
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	9

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to General Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Medical Systems

Some degrees associated with general alternative and complementary medicine and medical systems may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to general alternative and complementary medicine and medical systems have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Bachelor’s Degree	10.2%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	76.1%
Master’s Degree	10.2%

Online General Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Medical Systems Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	2	1
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	1	1
Bachelor’s Degree	5	3
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	4	3
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to General Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Medical Systems

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to general alternative and complementary medicine and medical systems.

Major	Number of Grads
Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine	1,830
Holistic/Integrative Health	465
Naturopathic Medicine/Naturopathy	272
Ayurvedic Medicine/Ayurveda	150
Traditional Chinese Medicine and Chinese Herbology	147
Other Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Medical Systems	125

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Aphiwat chuangchoem under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.