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.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Medical and Health Sciences
Research Group:	Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Research Field:	Complementary and Alternative Medicine not elsewhere classified
Objective Division:	Health
Objective Group:	Other Health
Objective Field:	Health not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Easthope, G (Dr Gary Easthope)
UTAS Author:	Tranter, BK (Professor Bruce Tranter)
UTAS Author:	Gill, GF (Dr Gerard Gill)
ID Code:	21190
Year Published:	2001
Deposited By:	Sociology and Social Work
Deposited On:	2001-08-01
Last Modified:	2002-05-21
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