Choice To Voice

1. There is a lack of education and access to alternative medicine. Women are uneducated about their options and are being forced to endure the bureaucracy of the medical world in order to simply follow a system.

2. There is a lack of education not only among the public, but also among physicians about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). A study was conducted among 751 physicians at the University of Colorado Hospital which discovered that few physicians felt comfortable discussing CAM with their patients, and the overwhelming majority (84%) thought they needed to learn more about CAM to adequately address patient concerns. Physician recommendation of CAM was most strongly associated with physician self-use (Corbin and Shapiro).

Too many mainstream doctors today become so specialized that they treat the body parts and forget they are treating the whole body. This is fine for surgery, emergency or trauma but not for perpetuating good health (altmedangel.com). This truth is ever-present in the shared experiences of women forced to abide by the patriarchal system of the medical world.

On a macro-level, the institution of education is failing our physicians and not providing them with the necessary tools to inform their patients about alternative forms of medicine. This, in turn, leaves each individual uneducated about what their real options for treatment are.

3. Holistic health care isn’t fully covered by most health insurance providers. Therefore, women aren’t being given the opportunity to choose their methods of treatment or birth plans.

In her article, Sara Calabro explains how in many ways, a practitioner of alternative medicine follows the same steps for treatment that a conventional medical doctor uses. But because alternative medicine is still considered outside the scope of traditional health care, many insurance companies do not cover these visits or offer limited coverage.

It has been discovered that alternative medicine is more popular among women than men. This reflects the patriarchal system that seems to govern the medical world. They don’t consider the educated opinions of women and their bodies. They dismiss them and respond with the “doctor knows best” theory. This is denying women the power to govern their own bodies.

What should exist is a system that returns this power to women, grants them the right and choice of how to treat their bodies.

4. We should have insurance providers fully covering alternative medicine practices. We need physicians to be trained in a number of different modalities. Many alternative practitioners use high-tech, scientific diagnostic tools to pinpoint imbalances or underlying problems in major organs. Through a thorough line of questioning, they determine the probable cause and work with you toward a cure (altmedangel.com). We need the world of the American Medical Association (AMA) which is aligned with the multibillion dollar pharmaceutical industry to step back and allow women the choice to voice what medical path they want to take.

Works Cited

Calabro, Sara. "Alternative Medicine: Is It Covered?" Everydayhealth.com. Every Day Health Inc. Web. 12 Oct. 2010. .

"A Comparison of Alternative and Modern Medicine." YOUR GUIDE TO NATURAL HEALING. Web. 12 Oct. 2010. .

Corbin, Winslow L., and H. Shapiro. "Physicians Want Education about Complementary and Alternative Medicine to Enhance Communication with Their Patients." Pubmed.gov. U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, 27 May 2002. Web. 12 Oct. 2010. .