Until recently, the subject of "alternative" care (chiropractic, homeopathy, acupuncture and other therapies) was considered taboo in the halls and on the campuses of American medical schools. Many practicing doctors of chiropractic can still remember the days of the AMA's infamous "Committee on Quackery," which was formed in 1963 to contain and eliminate the chiropractic profession.
Time heals. Those alternative therapies that the medical establishment for so many years dismissed as unscientific and of little or no value to the well-being of patients are being discussed at some of the most prestigious medical schools in the nation. Courses on alternative practices are on the rise at medical schools, and some of the schools now require their students to have some knowledge of alternative therapies before they graduate.
Those are just some of the conclusions reached from a study on the nation's medical schools. The report, "Courses Involving Complementary and Alternative Medicine at U.S. Medical Schools," appeared in the September 2nd issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.1
The study's lead author was Miriam Wetzel, PhD, of the Center for Alternative Medicine Research at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. "This is a very good trend, because ultimately I'm hoping that (alternative medicine) will not be a fringe area of medicine," said Dr. Wetzel. "It really needs to be integrated throughout medicine."2
Co-authors of the report included Drs. Ted Kaptchuk and David Eisenberg. Dr. Eisenberg, it should be noted, authored a landmark study3 on the use of "unconventional medicine in the United States" in 1993 which determined that nearly one out of every three Americans used some form of alternative therapy, such as chiropractic, acupuncture, homeopathy.
Survey Methods and Results
Dr. Wetzel and her colleagues implemented a mail-in survey in January of 1997, contacted each of the nation's 125 medical schools in an effort to document the prevalence and diversity of medical school education with regards to complementary and alternative medicine. The researchers defined complementary and alternative medicine as "treatment modalities not traditionally taught in Western medical schools."
In September 1997, a second letter was sent to the schools that had not responded to the initial January letter. In all, Wetzel and her colleagues received responses from 117 schools. The results of the survey showed just how much of an impact alternative forms of treatment are beginning to have on otherwise "traditional" forms of patient care.
Among the highlights of the study:
| Number of Courses Reported | |
| Complementary and alternative medicine topics as stand-alone courses: | 84 |
| Complementary and alternative medicine topics as part of required courses: | 38 |
| Complementary and alternative medicine topics as part of elective courses: | 1 |
| Total: | 123 |
[Table II: Complementary and alternative therapy courses as assigned by department affiliation.]
| Predominant Departmental Affiliations | |
| Family practice/community medicine: | 38 |
| Medicine/internal medicine: | 14 |
| Psychiatry: | 4 |
| Office of medical education/dean's office: | 11 |
| Affiliated institutes or centers: | 9 |
| Humanities/medical humanities: | 5 |
| Interdepartmental/integrated: | 5 |
| Other: | 21 |
| No departmental affiliation: | 16 |
| Total: | 123 |
[Table III: Academic credit for complementary and alternative courses.]
| Yes -- 97 (79.7%) |
| No -- 8 (6.5%) |
| Not reported -- 18 (13.8 |
"Many of these practices have been around for thousands of years and would not have endured if they weren't of some benefit," said Dr. Wetzel. "Doctors need to know what they can reliably recommend, what might do harm, and what's simply ineffective among alternative therapies."4
Differing Opinions
Of course, some in the medical profession remain skeptical about the benefits that alternative therapies can offer. Well-known critic Dr. Wallace Sampson, who has taught a class debunking alternative medicine at Stanford since the 1970s, described many of the courses on alternative medicine as "indoctrination" and "politically correct propaganda."5
In their report, Dr. Wetzel and her colleagues note that it will be up to those who teach the future doctors of America to "respond to this relentless challenge to evolve."
Some educators, such as Dr. Sampson, simply refuse to evolve, but clearly the medical teaching institutions now have a more open mind about alternative care. As third-year medical student Raja Abusharr said, "I don't buy everything that is labeled as alternative medicine. It can be really dangerous for a lot of people. But the same thing is true for conventional medicine. I think there's a way to use the best of both worlds."
Impact on the Chiropractic Profession
In their conclusion, the study's author's noted that:
"... patients are increasingly seeking to identify a physician who is solidly grounded on conventional, orthodox medicine and is also knowledgeable about the value and limitations of alternative treatments. The discussion about how best to prepare future physicians for this role is only beginning ..."As a profession, physicians will increasingly be expected to responsibly advise patients who use seek, or demand complementary and alternative therapies. We believe the development of a more consistent educational approach to this provocative area is essential."
A new generation of medical doctors is learning something about chiropractic, not seeking to discredit or destroy the profession as many of their forefathers did. With this understanding comes the opening of communication between the medical and chiropractic professions, leading to a more cooperative spirit and sharing of information for better patient care.
References
When sports chiropractors first appeared at the Olympic Games in the 1980s, it was alongside individual athletes who had experienced the benefits of chiropractic care in their training and recovery processes at home. Fast forward to Paris 2024, where chiropractic care was available in the polyclinic for all athletes, and the attitude has now evolved to recognize that “every athlete deserves access to sports chiropractic."
It is estimated that 61% of patients with CTS avoid taking surgical options due to postoperative complications and costly surgical procedures. Chiropractic care offers a comprehensive and effective treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome, addressing the condition from multiple angles. Recent studies also have unveiled a game-changing adjunct to chiropractic treatments for CTS: nerve flossing.
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