Why Medical Students Should Study Alternative Medicine

It may have the word “alternative” in its title, but the truth is that alternative medicine has not only been around longer than conventional medicine, but it’s also becoming increasingly mainstream. From Olympians turning to the ancient Chinese healing practice of “cupping” to just-released research indicating that acupuncture can relieve pain caused by carpal tunnel syndrome, modern medicine is just beginning to tap into what alternative medicine has long known. Here’s a closer look at alternative medicine, along with why it’s a smart field of study for aspiring healthcare professionals.

What is Alternative Medicine?

The term “alternative” is often used interchangeably with “complementary” and “integrative” to describe medical approaches outside of mainstream Western, AKA “conventional,” medicine. However, while they all draw upon non-traditional methods, they aren’t the same thing. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) defines them as follows:

● Alternative medicine: a non-mainstream practice used in place of conventional medicine.

● Complementary medicine: a non-mainstream practice used together with conventional medicine.

● Integrative medicine: an approach which brings together conventional and complementary approaches in a coordinated way.

According to the NCCIH, “True alternative medicine is uncommon. Most people who use non-mainstream approaches use them along with conventional treatments.” In other words, it’s not an either/or relationship. Rather, alternative medicine -- which comprises acupuncture and other traditional Chinese medicines (TCM); chiropractic medicine; energy therapies; therapeutic “healing” touch; and herbal medicine -- is inextricably becoming part of the landscape of modern medicine.

Why Alternative Medicine Matters

Most patients wouldn’t dream of seeing a doctor who didn’t have a solid foundation in anatomy, biochemistry, pathology or pharmacology. According to a recent BMJ article, “Should Medical Students Be Taught Alternative Medicine?” the same is starting to apply to alternative medicine.

Says author Graeme Catto, “To provide quality care doctors must be aware of choices patients make and be able to discuss them in an informed and non-judgmental way. Any other approach puts the doctor-patient relationship at risk. Patients are reluctant to raise issues that they believe meet with disapproval. These principles apply to complementary and alternative medicine the same way as to other lifestyle choices.”

Catto’s personal experiences in the clinical setting support this conclusion: “As a nephrologist I learned that patients wanted complementary therapies to relieve some of the intractable and distressing symptoms, such as skin itch and restless legs, associated with chronic renal failure,” he explains. “Patients discussed among themselves the therapies they found useful. For my part I checked that there were no known interactions with their current conventional treatment and was pleased if symptoms were relieved.”

An open mindset is so important, in fact, that the UK General Medical Council’s Outcomes for Graduates (Tomorrow’s Doctors) includes demonstrating “awareness that many patients use complementary and alternative therapies, and awareness of the existence and range of these therapies, why patients use them, and how this might affect other types of treatment that patients are receiving” toward its overarching outcome of “mak[ing] the care of patients their first concern, applying their knowledge and skills in a competent and ethical manner and using their ability to provide leadership and to analyse complex and uncertain situations.”

Mainstreaming...with a Catch

A growing body of evidence points to the benefits of alternative medicine in treating patients. For example, a recent article in the international, peer-reviewed journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (eCAM) contends, “The most rigorous method for demonstrating the effectiveness of medical interventions is the randomized controlled trial (RCT), and this has been the case for many decades. RCTs have been conducted in TCM, and some have shown very promising results such as Artemisia annua for malaria, acupuncture for low back pain, and Tai Chi for prevention of falls in the elderly.”

But even in cases where the jury is still out, learning about these approaches has value of its own, according to a recent US News & World Report piece on the recent movement among medical schools toward alternative medicine: “Whether or not students who learn about alternative approaches ever incorporate herbs or acupuncture in their practices, believers say, they stand to gain from viewing medicine in a more holistic way.”

Not only that, but where better to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of sometimes controversial alternative treatments than within an academic context? Concludes one 21stC article, “Perhaps that very contentiousness makes research universities the natural arena for alternative medicine to respond to the challenge of science.” The Irish College of Traditional Chinese Medicine’s Master’s Degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine, in conjunction with the Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, sets out to bridge this gap through the promotion of the development of higher education in the field of Chinese medicine, as well as to prepare graduates to provide quality TCM medical services to the growing number of patients seeking these treatments.

Other schools offering students the chance to immerse themselves in a culture of holistic healing? The University of East-West Medicine’s Master of Science in Traditional Chinese Medicine (MSTCM) features and innovative curriculum which teaches traditional Chinese medicine alongside Western medical sciences while Emperor’s College of Traditional Oriental Medicine works to position its graduates to be leaders in the integration of alternative medicine into modern healthcare.

The Indian Board of Alternative Medicines’ Doctor of Medicine in Alternative Medicines M.D. (A.M.), meanwhile, is an internationally-recognized holistic medicine training institute which offers distance learning coursework across a full range of alternative medicine disciplines, including naturopathy, medicinal herbalism, reflexology, acupuncture, yoga and massage, and Reiki therapy.

Still think alternative medicine has no place in the contemporary healthcare system? Think again. Approximately a third of Americans now look to alternative approaches for their health concerns, according to CNN. The takeaway for aspiring medical students? Studies in alternative medicine may vastly enrich your potential -- and your patient base -- as a doctor.