The goal of my project was to further examine the differences between allopathic and homeopathic health care. When we discussed the dominant discourse we looked at acupuncture as less commonly thought of as the normal health care. For my project I focussed on the healthcare aspect of illness and dying. As the illness part is usually avoided through some form of health care. Over a long weekend I chose to interview people who work for different types of health care. One is a doctor who specializes in dealing with premature new borns and the other is a acupuncture student approaching the end of her education. The doctor was to represent the dominant social practices and the acupuncture therapist was to represent the un-dominant social practices.
In the movie Sicko by Michel More he discussed primarily the downfalls of United States insurance companies. He discusses doctors being forced to abandon there values because of the insurance companies. He shows the negative only (not that there is much of a positive).After seeing Sicko I was shocked to see that these insurance companies usually pay for acupuncture. "They look at it as preventive health care." That seemed to strongly appose the evil portrayal of the health care companies in Michel Mores movie.
During my interview with the doctor I saw that she had struggled with health insurance companies. Yet usually the insurance companies deal with the patients parents after the procedures have been done. I asked her if she has ever encountered a patient whose insurance company refused to pay for a necessary treatment. She responded yes and said you can usually fight back.
For some reason i was under the impression that homeopathic and allopathic clashed more then they actually do. Both the doctor and the acupuncture student accepted that their profession dealt with different aspects of health. The acupuncture therapist said that acupuncture and chinese medicine is great for preventive health care but "will never cure cancer." she says that acupuncture is great for pain relief. From the interviews I concluded that the two aspects do not necessarily need to follow the Homeopathic Vs Allopathic attitude.
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI thought that your post was very insightful. I like how you compared and contrasted two very different types of doctors. Just like you, I was also very shocked to hear that health insurance companies will pay for acupuncture because it is so different and unique compared to traditional medical procedures. I think that Michel Moore is the one thing that both of these forms of treatment have in common. In a way, he brings them together.
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI agree, this post is very insightful.
After reading your opening comment “The goal of my project was to further examine the differences between allopathic and homeopathic health care.” I’m thinking about how the two approaches are reaching such an escalated level of studies and practices that they may be able to efficiently complement each other.
I come from a traditional western medical family. My father and two brothers are MD’s and my mother and sister are RN’s. We’ve had many conversations over the past few decades in regards to homeopathic vs allopathic. From my understanding it is more recently thought of possible to support each other with the result of being the best well rounded care for patients. Your post makes me think the insurance companies could be recognizing this as well. I am also told it is important for patients to clearly communicate with all health care providers about supplements, herbs and treatments they are taking to insure there are no adverse reactions to combinations of treatments.
This was very insightful project. I found it intresting how you compared and contrasted two types of doctors,"The doctor was to represent the dominant social practices and the acupuncture therapist was to represent the un-dominant social practices." . I couldnt believe health insurance companies would pay for acupuncture sense it more of a alernative medical treatment.
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