Complementary & Alternative Medicine   Tags: alternative medicine, complementary medicine, herbal medicine, integrative medicine, natural products, phytotherapy  

Welcome to the Complementary & Alternative Medicine Guide 

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) is the term for medical products and practices that are not part of standard care. Standard care is what medical doctors, doctors of osteopathy and allied health professionals, such as registered nurses and physical therapists, practice. Alternative medicine means treatments that you use instead of standard ones. Complementary medicine means nonstandard treatments that you use along with standard ones. Examples of CAM therapies are acupuncture, chiropractic and herbal medicines.    

Integrative Medicine is the discipline concerned with using the combination of conventional (allopathic) medicine and Alternative Medicine to address the biological, psychological, social, and spiritual aspects of health and illness.

(Definitions from the National Library of Medicine)

This guide is not meant to be exhaustive.  It does provides high quality information available at your ACPHS Library and Information Commons, the library website, and freely available on the internet.