The paradigm of western medicine is shifting and at the same time the public is becoming smarter and more educated when it comes to "other" therapies and treatment modalities. The Internet has opened a new world of information! I have been involved personally and professionally with the work of many fine CAM physicians who have committed their lives to educating and treating patients with less pharmacology and more natural approaches. In other cases, patients have benefitted from the combination of both options. Patients seeking CAM therapies should ensure their physician is trained and qualified in this area. There is no Board Certification but there are organizations that offered medical education in CAM through their conferences. The University of Arizona also offers a great Fellowship program for physicians and the demand for this program continues to grow. CAM is also known as INTEGRATIVE medicine, since many physicians will integrate several modalities into the treatment plan of the patient. However, healthcare practitioners who design a medical practice that is opened to discussing and offering CAM treatments are forced to consider the risk of not being able to obtain medical malpractice or get reimbursed by insurance companies. So there is still hesitation in the medical community to openly offer these services. This will change as more and more patients opt for paying out of pocket for this type of treatments. The good news is that we are moving int he right direction with many States having Health Freedom legislation passed and over 53 medical schools now offering courses in CAM/Integrative Medicine. The whole CAM field is also evolving to include mind-body medicine, energy medicine, etc. Recent research has found sufficient scientific evidence to make these two viable complements or alternatives to allopathic medicine (that is the term for mainstream medicine)
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The paradigm of western medicine is shifting and at the same time the public is becoming smarter and more educated when it comes to "other" therapies and treatment modalities. The Internet has opened a new world of information! I have been involved personally and professionally with the work of many fine CAM physicians who have committed their lives to educating and treating patients with less pharmacology and more natural approaches. In other cases, patients have benefitted from the combination of both options. Patients seeking CAM therapies should ensure their physician is trained and qualified in this area. There is no Board Certification but there are organizations that offered medical education in CAM through their conferences. The University of Arizona also offers a great Fellowship program for physicians and the demand for this program continues to grow. CAM is also known as INTEGRATIVE medicine, since many physicians will integrate several modalities into the treatment plan of the patient. However, healthcare practitioners who design a medical practice that is opened to discussing and offering CAM treatments are forced to consider the risk of not being able to obtain medical malpractice or get reimbursed by insurance companies. So there is still hesitation in the medical community to openly offer these services. This will change as more and more patients opt for paying out of pocket for this type of treatments. The good news is that we are moving int he right direction with many States having Health Freedom legislation passed and over 53 medical schools now offering courses in CAM/Integrative Medicine. The whole CAM field is also evolving to include mind-body medicine, energy medicine, etc. Recent research has found sufficient scientific evidence to make these two viable complements or alternatives to allopathic medicine (that is the term for mainstream medicine)
June 14, 2008 - 12:03amThis Comment
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