And it is startling, especially when you consider that the vast majority of those visits are being paid for directly out of the patients' pockets. With that kind of demand, the health care industry can't help but respond. At least 50 of the 125 medical schools in the United States now offer classes in unconventional therapies, although enrollment is still low and the curricula vary widely. Under the Oxford plan, you don't even need to ask your primary care doctor for permission first. If integration of natural and conventional medicine does prove to be the wave of the future, experts say it's patients like Marcy Foley who will benefit.
Most people use alternative care along with conventional health care.
Herbs and yoga can't treat everything, but neither can drugs and surgery. By working together, naturopaths and MDs can find the best approach for each patient. Previously, her record had been three weeks. Even if it turns out that this therapy doesn't help her, Foley is happy knowing that at least she wasn't shut out from that option by a conservative medical system.