Some aspects of TCM work. Some don't.
Is there the funding to properly build guidelines and EBM for most of these practices? Nope.
Because herbs and ancient knowledge cannot be patented by pharmaceutical company=no interest in funding research which could prove it. The system is broken and built upon for-profit tendencies.
Leave it to other countries: Korea, Japan, China are starting to generate research for the sake of the pursuit of knowledge itself and finding things out about the mysteries of Asia's ancient medicines.
Is not the original point of DO, even chiropractic (which has spotty effectiveness compared to acupuncture), to manipulate the body to effect change? Who says inserting needles and applying heat can in no way effect changes? It has worked for me when western medicine failed me: for regulating my cycle and reducing anxiety. I have anxiety and PCOS which comes with a whole bunch of hormone problems and painful cysts and at a time mono virus and swelling in my lymph nodes that just wouldn't quit. I went to ENTs, MDs, DOs... nobody had anything to say... went to acupuncture and the swelling evaporated and cycle is regulated since.
Each medicine has its place. Western medicine is remarkable at intervening in emergencies and teaching us the why, and how of disease. Also, stellar and powerful diagnostic tools to pinpoint the etiology of disease. But eastern medicine excels at understanding the patient and helping them before hurting them. For example, why addict someone to painkillers when they could cheaply be treated (community acupuncture clinics cost only 15 dollars a treatment, the co-pay for some medicines) and are effective for many people. It's a shame that the effectiveness cannot be properly investigated because the government-industrial complex of pharmaceuticals is not financially vested in cures which show no promise of generating profits beyond the sale of filiform needles, which doesn't compare to the sales of chemical cocktails.
Also with you: don't dock it, new "functional medicine" which is finally looking into why western medicine fails so many patients (including myself, which is why I want to become a healer in the first place) and beginning to be more holistic: is looking into these ancient remedies and creating the neutraceutical movement. And the sad thing is really that for preventive medicine and common complaints, changes in diet and lifestyle may be crucial for people to stop the disease.
Layer this with the crappy agricultural subsidization structure which awards the most money to GMO Round-up saturated corn for the beef industry and ethanol production, most our food is now corn syrup which will send a steady flow of unfortunate victims of corn syrup poisoning: Type II diabetes to endocrinologists for years to come. And all the flame ******ants in our plastics giving our cats and ourselves hyper and hypothyrodism... the BPA in our baby bottles, plastics, cosmetics, and "personal care" products giving us reproductive cancers and hormonal imbalances... many people are sadly unaware of the state of society, industry, and government's intersection and how that comes into play making people sick. So many diseases are the product of this crappy environment.
Western medicine is now crisis management. So if a patient has the chance to add another toxin or side effect producing compound into their body: (outside of emergent situations, at which western medicine excels at treating), or a 15 dollar appointment at community acupuncture would ease their complain without taking the medication, or consultation with a nutritionist would help them better understand why their body is in disarray based on crappy foods and drinks they're consuming, I say give them the community acupuncture treatment and nutritional/lifestyle counseling after they have achieved a proper diagnostic work-up through western medicine. It's really amazing what can be found out with modern tests, but this elitist exclusion of common sense and centuries old remedies (why would they persist if they failed?) baffles me.
Perhaps you won't understand until you are sick one day and western medicine cannot answer your questions.
For minor complaints or consistent ones discounted by my physician, or for chronic disease where the problem is just managed with drugs which have hideous side effects, I'll definitely go to the acupuncturist first. If I get hit by a bus or have some ominous signs of a bad disease (which acupuncturists are trained to recognize, training is now becoming very expensive because they must also take classes covering western medical terminology and pathology) then I'll head to an MD.
Don't let arrogance that the modern way is the best way cheat your patients. Sure there are great breakthroughs happening, but there are also debacles where drugs have been improperly perscribed: thalidomide, vioxx, Z-packs now in question... the list goes on and on.