Attitude and Recognition of Oriental Medical Doctors on Alternative Medicine

대체의료에 대한 한의사들의 인식도

This study was carried out to examine the attitude and recognition of oriental medical doctors on alternative medicine, which is increasingly used across the country. The data were collected from 264 oriental medical doctors who were working in oriental medical clinics in Daegu City, Gyeongbuk Province, using self-administered questionnaire from 1 March to 15 April 2007. Generally, the respondents have some positive attitude and recognition on alternative medicine including knowledge, interest and usefulness, efficacy of alternative medicine. However, they have some negative view on the expense of alternative medicine. And they also thought that introducing alternative medicine in their clinics was needed for better treatment and actually about 70% of the respondents recommended or applied alternative medicine to their patients. Around 40% of the respondents did not have the chance of education on alternative medicine officially. About 60% of the respondents thought that the oriental medical school was the best institute to provide the education of alternative medicine, followed by the oriental medical doctors's association. For the development of alternative medicine, they thought that the scientific research on alternative medicine by oriental medical doctors and professionals was highly needed.