Mini Medical School
Bridging the Gap Of Alternative and Conventional Medicine
INDIANAPOLIS - Aspirin or acupuncture? Psychological counseling or St. John's Wort? Meditation or medication? With any such choice, perhaps there's room for both.
Increasingly, Americans are turning to alternative medicine to maintain health and treat their maladies. Such an approach has forged what has become known as complementary and alternative medicine.
"One of medicine's fundamental tenets is to be responsive to society. Unfortunately, our response has been inadequate on many levels," said internist Palmer MacKie, M.D., clinical assistant professor of medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine. "When conventional medicine doesn't meet the demands of patients, they look elsewhere."
Apparently, patients not only seek but also find. According to an article appearing in a November 1999 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the total number of visits to alternative medicine practitioners had increased 50 percent - and now exceeds visits to all primary-care physicians in the United States.
Dr. MacKie, medical director of the Integrative Pain Center at Wishard Hospital, took participants attending the March 13 IU Mini Medical School on an alternate route to the emerging field of CAM. He said consumers largely are driven to alternative medicine because it offers them more personal choice and control over their health and well-being.
CAM defies a single definition, Dr. MacKie noted, adding that a wide variety of alternative treatments and therapies often can be used in tandem with conventional medicine. "Ideally, CAM is entirely patient-centered, clinically responsible and financially feasible."
It's estimated that 42 percent of Americans use some form of alternative medicine, many of which have been around for thousands of years. Among these are meditation and yoga (mind-body health enhancements), bioelectromagnetism (electrical currents used to mend bones), massage, osteopathic and chiropractic manipulation, aromatherapy, herbal medicine, cross-cultural systems (Native American and Chinese medicine) diet and nutrition and art therapy.
"People considering alternative therapies should first learn as much as they can and decide if there is scientific evidence that a particular approach will help the condition they have," said Dr. MacKie, a member of the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture. Would-be CAM users also should consider consulting with physicians who either use alternative therapies or can recommend licensed and qualified practitioners.
While the demand and use of CAM has been on the upswing, there isn't much scientific data to support its efficacy and safety, Dr. MacKie said. He said that CAM principles and practices need to be incorporated into medical education. Such principles are part of the curriculum for students at the IU School of Medicine and its primary-care residents.
"We can serve patients better by bridging the gap between conventional and not-so-conventional medicine," said Dr. MacKie.
The IU Medical Group and Indianapolis radio station WIBC sponsor Mini Medical School, which is offered by the Indiana University School of Medicine Faculty Community Relations Committee through the IUPUI Division of Continuing Studies.
Related CAM Web Sites
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
http://www.nccam.nih.gov/
American Academy of Medical Acupuncture
http://www.medicalacupuncture.org/
National Institutes of Health
http://www.nih.gov/
Health World
http://www.healthy.net/asp/templates/center.asp?centerid=1
Media Contact: Joe Stuteville
Tel: (317)274-7722
Email: jstutevi@iupui.edu
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