title: Young doctors' views on alternative medicine.
abstract: A survey was undertaken to explore attitudes to alternative medicine among 100 general practitioner trainees. A positive attitude emerged from the 86 respondents, with 18 doctors using at least one alternative method themselves and 70 wanting to train in one or more. A total of 31 trainees had referred patients for such treatments; 12 of these doctors made referrals to non-medically qualified practitioners. The most commonly used alternative treatments were hypnosis, manipulation, homoeopathy, and acupuncture. A total of 22 doctors had been treated, or had treated themselves, by an alternative treatment, and this personal experience was linked to a greater professional use. These findings indicate that alternative methods of treatment are currently being used to complement orthodox medicine and an expansion in their use appears imminent.
mesh_terms: D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000639:trends; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D005194:Family Practice / Q000193:education*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006990:Hypnosis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010021:Osteopathic Medicine; D008517:Phytotherapy; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012606:Scotland; D013812:Therapeutics / Q000639:trends*