Complementary and Alternative Medicine

[justskipee]

Just curious which medical schools are supportive of C&A medicine? Which have electives and/or incorporation into curriculum?

What do you think about using C&A medicine to supplement western medicine techniques?

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[tulane06]

I think some of it may be helpful, but I am a skeptic.

 

[Flopotomist]

I have a problem with the phrase "alternative" medicine. There is medicine that is proven to work, and there is everything else. There are not two systems of equally effecacious medicines out there. I think it is important for physicians to have open minds, and look everywhere for possible solutions to medical problems, but don't think that adopting unproven dogma about "chakras" or "energies" is appropriate for physicians.

 

[justskipee]

woh, I guess U of MN does.

http://www.csh.umn.edu/csh/educ/medicine.html

 

[Iwy Em Hotep]

What our med school does is introduce us to the concept of CAM because a lot of patients will want to take herbs, go to the chiropractor, get message therapy, etc. and we should know if anything they do will be dangerous. It's fascinating stuff, actually.

Besides, Bastyr is right across the lake.

 

[TracksuitsRock]

Just curious which medical schools are supportive of C&A medicine? Which have electives and/or incorporation into curriculum?

What do you think about using C&A medicine to supplement western medicine techniques?

Harvard and UCSF (and maybe others that I don't know about) both have entire integrative medicine institutes (the Osher Institute) that specialize in research and medical education, as well as public education. So awesome. I hope to go to one of those two schools because of that.

 

[Phil Anthropist]

Georgetown is supportive of CAM as well:
http://som.georgetown.edu/cam/index.html

 

[FictionalGirl]

U of A has a post MD fellowship in alternative medicine. We have the leader in Alternative medicine self-marketing, Dr. Andrew Weil. Who, while he is a very nice guy who does a lot of things I approve of..... still manages to make vitamins that give me the worst stomache ache EVER. I actually went by his office to complain *laughs*

 

[QuikClot]

I have a problem with the phrase "alternative" medicine. There is medicine that is proven to work, and there is everything else.

Prior to the "evidence-based" medicine fad of the last twenty years or so, 99% of allopathic therapies weren't "proven to work." To this day most aren't. I would say the two kinds of medicine are stuff that works and stuff that doesn't, and those catergories transend allopathic and alternative.

There are not two systems of equally effecacious medicines out there.

I think that's true. I would add, though, that our kind has all the money, all the prestige, and all the recognition in law and in society. So we can afford to be non-defensive, and say, "What can we learn from this? Are there things in it that work, even if we don't know why?"

Even if 5% of alternative therapies are effective, that is still a huge untapped resource of techniques.

I think it is important for physicians to have open minds, and look everywhere for possible solutions to medical problems, but don't think that adopting unproven dogma about "chakras" or "energies" is appropriate for physicians.

Alternative medicine is a varied field, and there are plenty of hard-core alternative medicine experts that have nothing to do with healing crystals and furniture arrangements. Remember when you identify alternative medicine by the most absurd and ineffective therapies associated with the name that you could use the same tactic to villify what we do.

 

[anon-y-mouse]

In my opinion, the key distinction to make is between therapies that work and therapies that don't. It shouldn't be an "allopathic vs." modality at all... let me rmind people that many potent "legitimate" drugs currently in use, some treating insidious cancers, and even aspirin for headaches - are derived from nature. People used willow bark because their primitive "trials" showed it helped - similar things can be said about quite a few "naturopathic" agents. Obviously there are quacks and things that don't work, but I am all in favor of any treatment that cures.


ps - what do people think of OMM? I'm personally skeptical...

 

[Doc.Holliday]

here ya go! there are quite a lot of schools that cover CAM, not that they all actually support it though, but med schools are almost forced to cover it, doctors need to know what works and what is potentially harmful in order to effectively guide their patients.

http://www.healthwwweb.com/schools/CAM.html

what would you do without me?

 

[Doc.Holliday]

a related question...

ive recently started studying shaolin kung fu, taiji, and qigong... along with that i learn a lot about eastern medicine etc. CAM is definitely something i want to be a part of my future research/practice, and therefore its existence in a schools curriculum plays a part in choosing to apply/attend there. BUT, ive always considered it risky to mention this in any way in applications or to interviewers (im not applying till next year though) thinking that the person reading/hearing it will be making decisions about my future, and they themselves might be biased against this area of medicine/research and hold it against me. Just because its a small part of a curriculum or the school offers electives in the area doesnt mean all doctors there will be open to the idea of CAM. Do you think that is a warranted fear? or would i be acting overly cautious?

 

[BooMed]

a related question...

ive recently started studying shaolin kung fu, taiji, and qigong... along with that i learn a lot about eastern medicine etc. CAM is definitely something i want to be a part of my future research/practice, and therefore its existence in a schools curriculum plays a part in choosing to apply/attend there. BUT, ive always considered it risky to mention this in any way in applications or to interviewers (im not applying till next year though) thinking that the person reading/hearing it will be making decisions about my future, and they themselves might be biased against this area of medicine/research and hold it against me. Just because its a small part of a curriculum or the school offers electives in the area doesnt mean all doctors there will be open to the idea of CAM. Do you think that is a warranted fear? or would i be acting overly cautious?

I let you know whether or not I'm accepted, but I (truthfully) wrote in my personal statement about my hippie upbringing where I almost never ever went to the doctor, never got immunizations until two years ago (that was really dumb mom), took natural remedies for colds/stomachaches/etc. (some of which I think work and many that I don't), and that my family focused on exercise and nutrition to stay healthy.

Lo and behold, in ALABAMA of all places, my interviewers wanted to know all about my mom's job as a massage therapist (two were angry that insurance companies in Alabama still don't pay for doctor-perscribed massage), all the yoga classes I took, and my health food ways. They told me how UAB was once of the first places to experiment with massage with preemie babies (it helps them grow much faster/die less), therapy dogs and having musicians play for patients.

Sometimes "Western" medicine institutions can be more accepting than I was giving them credit for.

 

[BooMed]

That said, I've heard that Oregon Health and Sciences University is a great place to go for a blend of alternative/traditional. Ahh Oregon, land of recycling and rain...

 

[TracksuitsRock]

I have a problem with the phrase "alternative" medicine. There is medicine that is proven to work, and there is everything else. There are not two systems of equally effecacious medicines out there. I think it is important for physicians to have open minds, and look everywhere for possible solutions to medical problems, but don't think that adopting unproven dogma about "chakras" or "energies" is appropriate for physicians.

Your point of view (not unfounded) is why it is so important for those of us who do believe that some types of non-western treatments have value to find ways to participate in research on those methods. That way we can determine scientifically what is effective and what is not.