Integrative Medicine
This concept implies a combining of diverse modalities, alternative and conventional, at patient’s bedside. Surprisingly, neither a proper model, nor the sensible guidance for such a monumental undertaking have been offered by the proponents.
The article written by Ted J. Kaptchuk, OMD, and David M. Eisenberg, M.D. of Harvard Medical School, (“Varieties of Healing. 1: Medical Pluralism in the United States, A Taxonomy of Unconventional Healing Practices” Annals of Internal Medicine 2001; 135: 189-195.) cautions about “potential semantic chaos” within the scope of the representative alternative healing practices as “the number of named alternative therapies available in the United States easily soars into the hundreds.”
The real issue, however, is the practical application of these practices with the main emphasis on the several key aspects:
1. How exactly any of these therapies are to be combined with conventional medicine?
2. How are they to be combined between themselves?
3. How does one prioritize their application within the realm of the most of day-to-day care? Does one begin with conventional medicine or alternative ? If the latter, which exactly, and why?
4. How to safeguard patients from therapeutic conflicts or collision course?
5. What approach clinically and cost wise is the most effective?
These issues, hardly argued, are the most essential in both the training of health care providers and medical practice itself. Yet, they lack any well-defined or logical answers and remain to be conceptual black holes.
The education symposia, popular nowadays, devoted on the subject of Integrative Medicine are yet to address them.
The main reason for this void is even a greater flaw – a virtual nonexistence of encompassing and fundamental model for the practice of medicine in today’s world. The importance of this model presented by FCT® curriculum is difficult to overemphasize.
Without its use, the “Integrative Medicine” approach is doomed on haphazard combining of treatments riddled with their share of failures, side effects and conflicts between them. FCT® curriculum offers a solid foundation for a sound, effective, low-cost practice of Integrative Medicine.