A Rant - Tale of the Tape

It is truly sad that allopathic medicine is so judgmental that there is really no room for other types of medical care. The allopathic medical model is relatively young when compared with methods like Ayurveda or Chinese Medicine that have been around for millenia. The true controversy is submerged in evidence based medicine. If it doesn't have a study behind it, well then, it just isn't good medicine. even good studies have flaws or the researchers skew the data to reflect their personal bias. Part of the problem comes from the fact that the ultimate scientific premise is that of the hypothesis. if you have a hypothesis can you truly be unbiased in either direction? it would be my challenge that if you are asking the question you probably already have an answer in your head and you hope the research will flesh it out.

Part of the pomp of allopathic medicine is that it prides itself as being the only arm of medicine that is evidence based. It feels as if it is the only form of medical care that is steeped in scientific method and uses deduction to determine the diagnosis. Physicians that feel that science is God are truly falling prey to the Pre-Trans Fallacy of Ken Wilber. By supposing that Science is God and everything can be deduced by science basically eliminates the transpersonal experience. The other end of the spectrum is the religious zealots that feel everything is based on religion. These individuals exclude the fact that there are truly wonderful scientific experiences.

Medicine is not politics (or is it). There is separation of church and state, but does there have to be a separation of religion and medicine. Unfortunately, many physicians are soulless. I do not mean this in the sense of religion or atheism. They simply have lost their spirit to the practice of medicine and science and they feel that spirituality has no role in healthcare. These are not truly healers, these are medical robots.

Why is it that physicians that pride themselves on scientific have such a hard time accepting the trend of Integrative Practice. Why? Again, they have no spirit. Is it so horrible to use your allopathic acumen to diagnose a native american patient with diabetes and at the same time udnerstand their culture and spirutality. Is it so horrible that the patient may then go home and participate in a sweatlodge with their entire family at their sides. Maybe it is the life of the allopathetic physicianworking horrendous hours and strapped to a lifestyle ever slipping away that is blurring the lines of reality and myth.

Archetypally the physician at large has become the wounded-healer, and many more have become the harsh judge. They not only judge their colleagues they judge their patients. The main reason for lawsuits agaisnt physicians is not becuase of a lack or science, but because that physician lacked the ability to talk with the patient and develop a relationship.

Should the physician separate their religion and personal beliefs from their practice of medicine? I am certain that the patients do not do so. I would think that a physician would have a difficult time dissociating himself/herself from their beliefs (is not this dissociation the crux of the problem in the first place). I think that doctors should be true to themselves. If they are against the morning after pill then don't prescribe it, but you should have a list of places where the patient can obtain the medication. They should not issue a judgement or preach to the patient, just as other physicians should not preach to other health care providers.

Should physicians stay true to their allopathic training? The training that pounded them into automatons and made them angry that medicine is falling apart right before their eyes because of the lawyers and insurance companies. The surgeons judge the internists and vice versa, and this has nothing to do with lawyers or insurance companies; this has to do with the legacy of the venerable physicians before us. They have created this debacle and now they sit back from their ivory towers and mock journals and judge us for living through their mistakes.

As medicine continues to evolve we should learn to become more accepting of other practices and educate them on why we believe the things that we do. If the other practices such as pharmacy and chiropractic, acupuncture, and homeopathy were free to feel that they could talk with us then maybe we could educate eachother for the benefit of the patient. Instead we are ready to institute "Marshall" law and burn them at the stake, and we wonder why they will not come to us for help. I am confinent in my allopathic training and I do not feel threatened by the naturopath. I am an M.D. not an N.M.D. I would imagine that this can be confusing for the patient, but I have training and I bring this to my office, not a disgust for someone with other labels after their names. As long as other complimentary providers are practicing within their scope, are not harming the general public, and are providing a service deemed legitimate, but the state boards of medicine, then so be it.

The ego is a dangerous thing if left unregulated and this is the basis of many spritual pracitices. Maybe those providers that have such fear of being rolled into a consortium and hold on to conspiracy theories should come out the corners themselves and particpate in the debate instead of shooting arrows. Collateral damage can destroy bridges.

Allopathic or Allopathetic medicine? I'll leave you to decide.