( M S I 34 )
Complementary Alternative Medicine Arshiet Dhamnaskar MSAI - India arshiet@gmail.com
As the field of medicine reaches staggering heights, the world still looks at the other forms of medicine to cover up the fallacies in the standard system. Is this a threat to health care? A mere revolution? Or a backward step towards primitive healthcare? Before we come to a conclusion, we must take a look at what alternative medicine includes. Such other forms of medicine usually present themselves in traditional beliefs and practices originating from different parts of the world; be it Yoga and Ayurveda of India, Oriental acupuncture, or Greco-Roman herbalism. These could easily be passed off as old and worthless, but one cannot deny the possibility that the sheer existence of these practices even today could be a result of their evident efficacy. While the world has wholly embraced the benefits of some of these forms of medicines, such as yoga, the same is not included in medical curriculum. Imagine yourself as a practising doctor who realises that a particular ailment can be treated with a particular exercise or manoeuvre, but does not know the exact procedure of such a mode of treatment. Moreover, imagine having to deal with a complication the patient is facing due to the intake of a drug prescribed by another form of medicine. Wouldn’t it be better if one were to know more about this? Then why are such things not taught to us? Of course, this would certainly mean an increase in the curriculum, but notice that this is actual practical knowledge and training that we will get! 70 71
Alternative medicine may be considered superior by its practitioners, while the practitioners of standard medicine may shun the very thought of these. The debate might go on for a long time, but during its course one must not forget that medicine is, in its true essence, medicine. The ultimate goal of the doctor is to provide
optimum healthcare for the patient. Perhaps one day it will be a set requirement to resolve all set discrepancies between every form and aspect of medicine, take up an integrated approach and deliver the perfect healthcare system for all. To achieve this, we must learn. We must ask to be taught what we do not know. There is more to medicine than we can think of. And we know this! Then why not take steps into every perspective of it and fulfil our responsibilities as guardians of medicine?
References 1. http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/medicalstudents-say-western-medicine-150587 2. http://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/ articles/10.1186/1472-6963-5-78 3. h t t p : / / l i b n a . m n t l . i l l i n o i s . e d u / p d f / publications/193_Chien.pdf 4. http://www.nap.edu/catalog/21851/integratingdiscovery-based-research-into-the-undergraduatecurriculum-report-of medical students worldwide | AM 2016, Mexico