Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) on Physical and Mental Well-being: The Doctors’ Perspective

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) refers to a group of diverse healthcare systems that are not a part of conventional (allopathic) medicine.  In India, there is a high degree of reliance and cultural acceptability of CAM in favour of traditional systems of medicine. Patients using CAM and its associated adverse effects may be encountered by medical practitioners in their practice. It is imperative to assess the perception of CAM and Integrative medicine among doctors and their need for the inclusion of CAM in education and training. The exploratory study used a qualitative method to explore doctors’ views of CAM and the rationales provided for the same. Focus group Discussion (FGD) via a Google Meet was done on a sample of eleven willing medical practitioners – seven males and four females with experience ranging 12-30 years. The results were analysed using narratives. Despite having differences in opinion, 36% of the respondents had a positive approach towards CAM. 54% of the doctors expressed that there exists no scientific articles on the efficacy of CAM in pharmacopeia. A fairly large number of doctors expressed their need for education and training in CAM. A large majority of the respondents expressed an integration of CAM with allopathic medicine.