Is your doctor alternative-friendly?

98 percent of physicians will tell you they don’t believe in alternative medicine and to follow their prescriptions if you ask them about the alternative natural supplements that do the same thing. How can you find a doctor that is an alternateve-friendly?

Fortunately, the power of popular demand is changing the field of medicine-in your favor. So-called “alternative medicine” can hardly be called “alternative” when you consider that 83 million Americans (over 40 percent of the adult population) consulted herbalists, chiropractors, and other nontraditional health professionals in the last year.

Clearly, the public wants access to alternative medicine. As a result, major medical schools, including Harvard, Tufts, Georgetown, and the University of Virginia, now offer or require courses in nutrition, preventive medicine, and other previously “alternative” subjects. Hospitals and medical centers around the country are investing millions of dollars in facilities for complementary medicine, offering acupuncture, meditation, nutritional counseling, and other holistic therapies.

You can find out quite a bit about a physician’s training and philosophy without having to pay for an office visit.
Here is what you need to do:
1. Call the receptionist and ask about the doctor’s views on nutritional or alternative therapies. Some practices will send you a brochure that outlines the training of the physicians in the practice and their general philosophy toward health and healing. 2. Ask if the doctor ever refers patients to acupuncture, chiropractic, or other qualified health professionals or if he has attended seminars, workshops, or lectures in the areas of nutrition, chelation, mind-body medicine, or any other similar modality.
3. Or you can ask an acupuncturist, chiropractor, nutritionist, or other health professional for a referral to a doctor in the area. These folks are likely to know which area doctors are the most informed and supportive of integrating conventional and alternative medicine.
Additionally, there are several national and international organizations of alternative medical professionals, such as those listed in the box below, that can refer you to an open-minded physician in your area.

Also consider the possibility that your doctor’s statement saying he “doesn’t believe in alternative medicine” is really a thinly veiled admission that he knows very little about it. Many doctors become very defensive about alternative medicine because they are in the uncomfortable position of knowing less than their patients do. Make it easy for him to save face: Supply him with concise, well-referenced, and documented information-such as an article from your Members Alert-that he can use to evaluate a particular alternative therapy.

Finally, your doctor may be less threatened by your interest in natural medicine if you make it clear that you would like to use natural and holistic medicine in conjunction with conventional medicine, not instead of it. Explain that you would like to minimize your exposure to side effects of drug therapies and believe that natural, nutritional approaches may allow you to do this. Let your doctor know that you will keep him informed about your use of supplements and other therapies so that he can better advise you. These strategies may help you to form what we are all looking for: an open and mutually respectful healing partnership with those that we trust to safeguard our health