About Complementary/Integrative Medicine
The definitions provided below are from various authoritative sources and are provided here for general explanation purposes.
CIM Terminology
Conventional Medicine: The term conventional medicine refers to medicine as practiced by holders of M.D. (medical doctor), D.O. (doctor of osteopathy) degrees and allied health professionals, some of whom may also practice complementary and alternative medicine. Other terms for conventional medicine are allopathic, western, orthodox and mainstream medicine and biomedicine.
Alternative Medicine: Therapeutic approaches taken in place of traditional medicine and used to treat or ameliorate disease.
Complementary Medicine: Therapies practiced together with, or in addition to conventional (or allopathic) medicine.
Integrative Medicine: Combines traditional western (or allopathic) and complementary approaches, but does not replace conventional therapy. It may be used for:
- Managing symptoms
- Increasing wellness (quality of life, reported sense of well-being)
- Improving treatment efficacy
Basic Principles of Integrative Medicine
- A partnership between patient and practitioner in the healing process
- Appropriate use of conventional and complementary methods to facilitate the body's innate healing response
- Focuses on the whole person
- Consideration of all factors that influence health, wellness and disease, including mind-spirit and social physical dimensions of health
- A philosophy that neither rejects conventional medicine nor accepts alternative medicine uncritically, but is informed by evidence
- Recognition that good medicine should be based in good science, inquiry driven and open to new paradigms
- The broader concepts of promotion of health and the prevention of illness as well as the treatment of disease
CAM: An acronym for complementary and alternative medicine.
CIM: An acronym describing the combined use of complementary and integrative medicine approaches.