Defining ‘complementary and alternative medicine’
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Christopher S. Trethewey; Julien Morlet; Samuel P Trethewey; Emma K.M. Reynolds
- Source
- The British Student Doctor. 3:42
- Subject
- medicine.medical_specialty
animal structures
Alternative medicine
RV
Umbrella term
RX
Evidence-based medicine
Homeopathy
Chiropractic
R1
RS
Term (time)
RZ
Osteopathy
medicine
Engineering ethics
Meaning (existential)
Psychology
- Language
- ISSN
- 2514-3174
The topic of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is controversial. CAM is a confusing term used to encapsulate a broad range of health-related practices. In this article we explore several CAM practices including homeopathy and manipulation therapies such as osteopathy and chiropractic. We examine the difficulty in understanding the meaning of the term CAM and argue that the term is unhelpful and should be avoided in the education of healthcare professionals. Medical educators should be careful to highlight the heterogeneity of health-related practices in teaching and treat each health-related practice as an individual entity without the need for the umbrella term CAM.