| Eighteen licensed physicians, graduates of accredited medical schools, were interviewed regarding their decisions to accept various Complementary and Alternative Medical (CAM) therapies, therapies not included in their medical school training. Diversified in age, geographic location, and medical specialty, all reported a dramatic change in their thinking after the unexpected occurrence of positive clinical responses to unorthodox therapies. Respondents described transformational events along an evolutionary path as they moved from one clinical paradigm and world view to a very different one. Two-thirds of the respondents noted dissatisfaction with conventional U.S. medicine and reported finding renewed interest in medicine, as well as greater personal and professional satisfaction, after incorporating CAM therapies into their practices. This study also identified licensed medical doctors as front-line scientists, who might, by their own experiences, answer questions about and help formulate research for the validity of this new direction in health care. When asked to speculate on a possible mechanism for effective therapies, explanations included physiological mechanisms and the human energy field. Combining their observations with published research on the cell membrane, and cell receptors and effectors, a theoretical model of a mechanism for the CAM therapies at the level of the cell is proposed.;Key words: physicians' career choices, CAM therapies, energy medicine, human energy field, life changes, medical school experience, mechanism for CAM therapies, cell membrane, cell receptors. |
