The Incorporation of a Complementary Therapy by Australian General Practitioners: The Case of Acupuncture

Abstract

Complementary therapies may be rejected by doctors as quackery or incorporated as part of their practice, although such incorporation may be limited. In Australia acupuncture has been incorporated as a normal part of general practice, although it is not accepted as an orthodox technique. This incorporation is demonstrated through analysis of national data on acupuncture usage and through analysis of two surveys of general practitioners undertaken independently in the states of Tasmania and Victoria, Australia. Further, it is argued, from examination of interview and focus group responses, that experienced doctors turn to acupuncture to deal with patients who do not respond to orthodox therapies. This move is possible because the valuing of clinical judgement allows practitioners to suspend their scientific judgement of the therapy although they are uneasy about doing so.