subject: Evaluation Of Complimentary Medicine. [print this page] Alternative or complementary medicine refers to a group of medical fields that are present mainly outside the traditions where Western health care is taught and provided. Complementary medicine is an an increasing feature of medical practice. Yet, considerable confusion remains about what precisely alternative medicine is and what position the fields included under this term should hold in relation to scientific medicine.
In the 70s and 80s of last century, these fields were mainly offered as an alternative to regular care and hence became known as alternative medicine. The term complementary medicine evolved as the two schemes started to be used to complement each other. Over the years, complementary has changed from explaining the relation between unconventional medicine and conventional care to defining the group of disciplines itself. Certain authorities use the term unconventional medicine synonymously. This evolving and overlapping terminology may explain some of the confusion that surrounds the subject.
The list of complementary/alternative medicine is quite lengthy, including acupuncture, massage, chiropractic, homoeopathy, Reiki, Yoga, just to name a few. New branches of established fields are constantly being developed. However, what is believed to be unconventional varies across countries and evolves over time. The boundary between alternative and conventional medicine is often blurred and constantly changing. The wide range of fields classified as complementary care makes it almost impossible to find concrete criteria that are common to all parties. Many of the assumptions made about alternative medicine are crude generalisations.
Complementary/alternative medicine is a broad domain of healing resources that encompasses all health systems, modalities, and their accompanying theories, except those intrinsic to the politically dominant health system of a particular culture in a given historical period. Complimentary/alternative medicine involves all these practices and ideas selfdefined by their users as treating illness or promoting health and wellbeing. Boundaries within complimentary and alternative medicine and between the domain of complimentary/alternative medicine and that of the conventional system are not always sharp or fixed.
In Western countries, although alternative therapists, except osteopaths and chiropractors, can legitimately practise with limited or no training at all, most have completed certain form of post-secondary education in their selected discipline. There is great deviation in the many training courses. For the major practices, such as, osteopathy, chiropractic, acupuncture, herbal medicine, and homoeopathy, the training instructions are usually highly developed, some with college affiliation, diploma level examinations, and external assessment. Others, in particular those instructing less invasive therapies such as massage, reflexology, aromatherapy, Reiki, Yoga, Shiatsu and hypnosis tend to determine their curricula internally, and have idiosyncratic evaluation procedures. In some training courses, direct clinical contact is limited. Some are not recognised by the mainstream registering bodies in the relevant discipline. Most alternative practitioners finance their training without governmental support, and many train part time over several years.
