Alternative goes mainstream (Medicine)

The Washington Times ^ | June 10, 2005 | Joann Loviglio

[neverdem]

ASSOCIATED PRESS

PHILADELPHIA -- Once largely dismissed as a leftover fad from the Age of Aquarius,acupuncture, herbal remedies and other forms of alternative medicine are finding their way into curriculums at traditional medical schools -- most recently the University of Pennsylvania.

Doctors at Penn are working with Tai Sophia Institute, an alternative medicine school in Maryland, on a program to teach medical students about herbal therapies, meditation and other approaches that are increasingly popular with the public but largely exist outside the realm of mainstream medicine. It will start in August.

"We're not going to turn great surgeons into acupuncturists or herbalists; that's not the idea," said Robert Duggan, co-founder of Tai Sophia, in Columbia. "The goal is that Penn medical school graduates will be highly able to speak with patients about how to guide these things into their overall care."

More than a third of American adults have tried alternative therapies -- including yoga, meditation, herbs and the Atkins diet -- according to a 2002 government survey of 31,000 people, the largest study of its kind in the United States.

Universities nationwide, in response to the burgeoning numbers, are increasingly focusing on complementary medicine -- used along with conventional treatment -- and alternative medicine -- used instead of conventional treatment. Some are creating their own programs, and others are working with alternative medicine practitioners, said Aviad Haramati, a professor at Georgetown University's medical school.

"More and more, there's a willingness by conventional schools to recognize the CAM [complementary and alternative medicine] schools as having this expertise," Mr. Haramati said. "And there's a recognition by the CAM disciplines that linking with conventional academic centers to foster research is a good thing."

Georgetown students work with a massage therapy school, for example, and Tufts...

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