The Canadian Complementary Medical Association was founded in 1996 as a non-profit medical society dedicated to the educational and political support of physicians interested in and practising complementary medicine. The CCMA has been joined by some of Canada s top physicians in order to give a legitimate voice to the medical therapies that have been kept on the periphery of accepted standard practice, yet have been shown to benefit patients and improve healthcare in other countries world-wide.
Complementary medicine represents the leading edge of medicine in Canada.
While Canadian doctors are beginning to train in acupuncture, homeopathy, orthomolecular medicine, Ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine and other therapies, the provincial regulating colleges continue to target these physicians for investigation in the guise of protecting the public. Doctors need to know about complementary therapies and must be free from the prejudicial attitude of provincial colleges in order to study and learn more. We need more research to determine safety and efficacy. We need standards of practice guidelines to assure a high quality of patient care. Financially, complementary medicine can play a pivotal role in the Medicare crisis by providing more effective, less expensive, safer therapies.