Fascinating conversation which I have enjoyed and learned from.
As a Primary Care Doctor taking care of medically ill patients in the
hospital, I find the subject fascinating and relevant. I teach
Practice of Medicine to 1st and 2nd year students Universtiy of
California, San Diego and we discuss this issue in fair detail. Of
course, I do not teach complementary medicine- not qualified to-I am
trained in tradititional medicine in India, UK and US. I am impressed
by how easily all of us suspend scientific method when we talk about
complementary medicine.
My impression is that patients turn away from allopathic medicine to
alternative medicine as we, as healthcare folks, have turned away from
taking care of them. We have become body part doctors and rarely
listen or talk to them. And of course, the Alternative/ Complementary
practitioner lays their hands on them, listens to them and gives them
a lot of time.
I think every branch of care needs to be aware of its limits and in my
experience, Alternative medicine practitioners often are not aware of
their limits. I would not want undergraduates to be taught
complementary medicine but would like them to be aware of all the
things that their patients may undergo in the name of treatment,
hopefully with informed consent.
Best regard,
madhusree singh
Assistant Professor Medicine,
Internal Medicine,
UC San Diego
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