Marginal to Mainstream: Alternative Medicine in America

Most users of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approach it differently than physicians, because they employ informal knowledge, based on their experiences, beliefs, and values. Mary Ruggie stresses that, although physicians also use informal knowledge from their clinical experience to understand patients and their needs, they rely on formal knowledge, based on science, to understand medicine. Thus, if CAM is going to become a legitimate part of health care, physicians must insist that scientific research prove its safety and efficacy.

Most users of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approach it through different lenses than physicians. Ordinary people employ informal knowledge, which is based on their experiences, beliefs, and values. One chapter elaborates why people use CAM, another why physicians are becoming interested in it. Physicians also use informal knowledge, based on their experiences as clinicians, to understand patients and their needs. But physicians use formal knowledge, based on science, to understand medicine. If CAM is going to become a legitimate part of health care, physicians insist that scientific research must prove its safety and efficacy. Another chapter elaborates how scientific research is conducted (randomized, controlled, clinical trials). Another elaborates current scientific research on CAM.