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Importance of Western medicine
Importance of cultural awareness in the medical field
Importance of cultural awareness in the medical field
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My passion for “original” medicine, also known as natural medicine, will elicit an advancement in the diversity of medicine. There needs to be a paradigm shift in the way the field of medicine is viewed, by both the public and the physician. When I become a physician, I will indubitably utilize the power of natural medicine to offer vitality and true health to my patients. I will be an advocate of diversity and I will be a pioneer of what is seemingly “abstract” medicine, which has technically been around longer than any class of medication; simply, Foxglove (Digitalis Lanata) came before Digox, and Poppy (Papaver Somniferum) before Vicodin-case closed. The reality is that Western medicine is diametrically opposed to the medicine practiced by the cultures of many of America’s inhabitants. It is …show more content…
There are so many Asians in the United States but their traditional medicine is not very common here. Now, being US citizens, they still reap all the benefits Western medicine has to offer, however a big piece of the puzzle is missing-their historical methods of treating disease. This is not just a problem for the Asians, it is a problem for every ethnicity that has “historical medicine”-this is every nation on earth because all these cultures had “original” medicine values. Sadly, the peoples of the different cultures who live in the US have not been taught the ancient healing arts and medical schools do not teach those wonderful arts. There needs to be a beautiful amalgamation of modern medicine and natural, alternative, or “original” medicine, which includes, and is certainly not limited to, Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine. I say this in the least bombastic way possible, but, I don’t think medical school makes someone a doctor. Every person who has had the honor of receiving the prestigious “MD” insignia after their name knew that they were a doctor “inside” themselves before they went to medical school. Going to medical school is a
This book addresses one of the common characteristics, and challenges, of health care today: the need to achieve a working knowledge of as many cultures as possible in health care. The Hmong population of Merced, California addresses the collision between Western medicine and holistic healing traditions of the Hmong immigrants, which plays out a common dilemma in western medical centers: the need to integrate modern western medicinal remedies with aspects of cultural that are good for the well-being of the patient, and the belief of the patient’s ability to recuperate. What we see is a clash, or lack of integration in the example of the story thereof. Lia, a Hmong child with a rare form of epilepsy, must enter the western hospital instead of the Laotian forest. In the forest she would seek out herbs to remedy the problems that beset her, but in the west she is forced to enter the western medical hospital without access to those remedies, which provided not only physical but spiritual comfort to those members of the Hmong culture. The herbs that are supposed to fix her spirit in the forest are not available in the western hospital. The Merced County hospital system clashes with Hmong animist traditions.
There has existed for quite some time the distinction between current western medicine and ancient eastern "alternative medicine." Western medicine has dealt primarily with the study of the nervous system, the visceral organs, and "observable" behavior, treating illness with drugs, designed to alter the body's chemistry. A western doctor looks for pathological conditions manifested through physical symptoms. While eastern medicine focuses on these aspects as well, it studies these symptoms through an understanding of Qi-energy (also called Ki-energy) that flows through invisible meridians throughout the body as well as the universe. This energy is the vital elemental life force of Asian medicine. Practically every method of healing involves some rendition of this vital energy-except, of course, for mainstream western medicine. Why is that modern medicine has virtually ignored this force that has been studied for centuries? What is happening as these two faces of medicine are colliding? Is there truth to the idea that our bodies are not merely...
Mankind has always found a way to better and prolong our lives through science and medicine. With the growing interest in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) that has occurred over the last decade, one could easily say that “unconventional,” or non-Westernized, approaches to healing must be a new phenomenon never before seen in American society or around the world. The reality is, however, that the current rise in fashionability for unorthodox treatments is merely the latest of three waves of mainstream popularity in the past century-and-a-half (the first was the mid-1800s, the second the early 1900s in the United States). Although it is true that the present environment differs in certain critical respects from previous times, there are still plenty of parallels in which historical patterns are mirrored across time by the interest in CAM today. Alternative medicine can be defined as “medicine not prescribed by a medical professional and used more so as therapeutic remedies.” The difference between CAM and western medicine is that
Traditional Chinese Medicine: An Introduction [NCCAM Backgrounder]. (n.d.).National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine [NCCAM] - nccam.nih.gov Home Page. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from http://nccam.nih.gov/health/whatiscam/chinesemed.htm
What is traditional medicine? Traditional medicine is the total sum of all the knowledge, skills and practices that are based on the theories, beliefs and experience that are indigenous to different cultures, and is used in the maintenance of health and in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness. Traditional medicine may also be called alternative, complementary and non-conventional interchangeably in some countries.
Antibiotics are powerful substances which are capable of inhibiting bacterial growth. Antibiotics can be consumed from any part of the body. Essentially there are two different types of antibiotics which perform different operations to the body. (Medical News, 1) The first discovered type is bactericidal, which not only inhibits but initially eliminates the bacterial or microbial organisms, this is done through exterminating the bacterium cell wall which furthermore erupts and causes the bacteria to be killed. The second type is bacteriostatic, as the name states. It aids to inhibit and limit bacterial growth. The antibiotic stops bacterial growth through stopping the process of protein synthesis, or bacterial reproduction. It is consumed to stop the growth of a microorganism permanently or temporarily. (Scientific American, 3) Patients consume antibiotics through the mouth. Antibiotics can also be directly injected into the body. Others can be applied on the infected area of the body, and physically cured or eliminated. (Medical News, 1)
When someone hears holistic nursing their mind may immediately jump to a form of hippie nursing with little to none scientific background or accuracy in the quality of care. This belief however is extremely inaccurate as to what holistic nursing really is. Holistic care can be defined as to when the nurse honors the patient’s wishes and takes into consideration the social, physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of the patient’s life (American Holistic Nurses Association, n.d.). Holistic nursing is growing in popularity amongst patients because of its open communication between nurse and patient, its unique approach to health and healing, as well as the comprehensive care it can provide.
It is important to consider that the Hmong had their own way of spiritual beliefs and religious healing practices. However, after the community decided to exclude Lia from the applications and advantages of modern medicine, the condition of the young girl worsened (Parish, 2004, p. 131). It was not at all wrong to humanize medicine, but apparently, as a multi-cultural community, the Hmong people became too ignorant and indignant over the applications and benefits of modern medicine applications. Staying firm over their religious affiliations and conduct, the maximum effect of healing became misaligned and ineffective. This was the misunderstanding that should be cleared in the story. There would have been probable results if the Hmong community chose to collaborate with the modern society without needing to disregard or compromise their own values and religious affiliations and
. Many doctors and patients are unaware that antibiotics are designed to treat bacterial infections, not viral infections (Antibiotic resistance, N.D.). Many bacteria within our bodies are not harmful at all, and some of them actually provide health benefits. The bacteria that are harmful are disease-causing bacteria, which generate sicknesses such as strep throat, the common cold, and ear infections (Get, 2013). Viruses are smaller than bacteria and require hosts, such as plants or animals, in order to proliferate (What, N.D.). Doctors play a vital role in administering antibiotics, for patients rely on their knowledge and expertise in order to receive proper medication for ailments throughout their lives. According to www.acponline.org, 190 million doses of antibiotics are administered every day. Among patients that do not reside in hospitals, doctors prescribe more than 133 million antibiotic programs every year. Of those 133 million programs, it is estimated that over 50 percent of them are unnecessarily prescribed because the doctor is prescribing them for viral infections such as common colds or simple coughs (Antibiotic resistance, N.D.). However, doctors are not the only ones to blame in regard to misuse of antibiotics because their patients are just as guilty when it comes to ignorance in respect to antibiotic usage. Many preventable factors have emerged because of irresponsibility of patients, including self-medication practices and the temptations of cheap, counterfeit drugs, all of which have aggravated drug resistance in the last 20 years (What, N.D.). Also, many patients are unaware of the dangers that can result from leaving medication behind because they don’t use it. It is extremely ill-advised to leave behind eve...
Traditional Hmong’s believe in their Shaman rather than western doctors, they choose to detain their treatment by hosting their rituals to save them. A shaman is “a person who acts as intermediary between the natural and supernatural worlds, using magic to cure illness, foretell the future, control spiritual forces, etc” (dictionary.com). Hmong individual’s have a belief that ancestral spirits, including the spirits of shamans, are reincarnated into the same family tree. Hmong consider being a shaman an honor because they carry the duty of helping mankind according to Hmong mythology. Differences between Hmong traditional beliefs and Western biomedical beliefs create a lack of understanding. Negative health care experiences result in Hmong community members’ mistrust and fear of Western medicine. However, when there’s mistrust between a doctor and a patient there could be lack of treatment because of the differences between our ...
Attending medical school will give me the opportunity to learn more about forms of Alternative medicine including naturopathic and holistic medicine and massage therapy. I plan to shadow massage therapists and acupuncturists in order to gain more experience with treatments that relieve stress, pain, and positively impacts the health of patients. Upon completing medical school, I aspire to work under medical professionals who practice forms of alternative medicine in order to gain experience. Later, I aspire to open up my own facility where I am studying each of my patients’ unique illness, disease, or cancer; I will work to find the cause of diseases and illnesses and prescribe natural substances and treatments to not only treat the symptoms of the illnesses but cure the root of the problem. I will also work to use natural substances that could be implemented into my patients’ diet to treat or aid in curing their illnesses. Lastly, I know that conventional medicine could be expensive and there are people who cannot afford to continuously pay for pills, forms of treatment, and doctor visits, so I would work to provide top-notch inexpensive treatment. Alternative medicine gives me hope for those who are suffering from sicknesses and diseases. I one-day plan to be successful at healing and saving the lives of those who suffer from illnesses and diseases without the reliance on
Society is programed to feel very healthy, but if when actual regarding the statistics it would be surprising to the contrary. The modern healthcare system is flawed in its basic theology. It focuses on treating the main symptoms and not treating the root cause and preventing illnesses. To return to a healthier society, the medical care system needs that focuses more on holistic or the all of the systems that make up someone 's body. The needs to be a shift in the way medical professionals treat their patients it would create a superior society.
Alternative medicine has been around for ages, before we have been born. Alternative medicine is used daily without you knowing, it can be simple as taking fish oil for a minor heart problem. In the article, “At Issue: Alternative Medicine”, it says “Alternative medicine experience a period of growth in the u.s in the 1900s” .Doctors are taking a different approach to medicine, more of a natural way of healing. Alternative medicine is a better solution as opposed to modern medicine because it has little to no side effects, it is statistically proven to work, and it is all natural; it is better because you don’t put bad chemicals in the body.
When you are sick you take medicine, but there are many remedies for the same problems. The use of herbal remedies traces back to the Chinese in the use of Traditional Chinese Medicine, as well by a compiled book in China written back more than 2,000 years ago (Wachtel-Galor & Benzie, 2011). Modern medicine has roots that are more recent in the development and production of synthesize drugs (Wachtel-Galor & Benzie, 2011). The old generations took herbal remedies to improve their health, but now as time and people, progressed modern medicine comes on top. Herbal and modern medicines have good and bad points, but one has qualities that are more effective.
Herbal products are medicinal agents obtained from the plants. It’s all started 100 years ago by ancient people. Since synthetic medicine are not yet invented by that time, ancient people had invented medicine out of the plants. Through generations the original herbal medicine had been modified due to the new knowledge discovered and technologies invented.