Originally posted by USeF
souljah, you eleqountly put into words what was going to be a rant on my part concerning the non-holistic MD stereotype. Hopefully the government's recent grants to 6 schools for alternative medicine studies and the multiple # of integrative studies being founded at MD schools will change all that (the deciding reason I applied to UCSF even though it was longshot).
As for Weil, he was the first doc I read that I truly admired. Eating Optimum reassured me that it was actually normal to have an MD not want to throw drugs at people for everything 
as for the title, I was even MORE intrigued by the possibility of another famous doc with a similar name. So if he never gets around to changing it, it migt be just as well.
USeF,
I started off being incredibly interested in holistic medicine and the relationship between diet and disease. That is why I studied Nutritional Science and Toxicology as an undergrad. I began my 'journey' thinking that western medicine is fractured and that all western medicine is good for is treating symptoms but not the cause..I had a lot of generalizations. Luckily, I have been fortunate to meet and work with physicians such as Dean Ornish who have really shown me that you can absolutely live and practice holistically as a MD. I worked at his non-profit preventive medicine research institute and met many other MDs in the Bay Area who were not those close-minded, egocentric, viewpoint-fractured physicians who I used to think all western medical doctors descriptively fit. He was pretty amazing. He made the use of good things, regardless of their origin. He functioned mainly as a cardiologist, but you would also find him lecturing on the importance of proper diet, exercise, stress management (yoga, tai chi, meditation), group therapy, and on the importance of having loving relationships in your life. His commitment to take into consideration all dimensions of healing was inspiring. That is when I started to learn about Dr. Weil as well. I actually think Dr. Weil's dietary advice is more balanced and less extreme (but Ornish was attempting to reverse coranary artery disease). Anyway, enough rambling. Who would have thought that some of the biggest proponents of integrative medicine would be graduates of Harvard and Baylor?
Now, I realize that open-mindedness can be found in all forms and philosophies of medicine. For me, I felt that the best approach for me to take (one that would open the most doors) was to attend a medical school that would provide an opportunity to learn about integrated medicine and also the chance to gain tremendous clinical experience in the specialty in which I plan to enter. I think it is silly when MD and DO arguments arise. If you are interested in mechanical manipulation, it would make sense for you to learn as a DO. If you aren't all that interested in that therapy, well..then why would you consider the path of a DO? For me, getting an MD makes more sense if I want to acheive the goals that I have set for myself.
Again, I find myself rambling.
Note: Dr. Weil was at Harvard the same time that Timothy Leary and Baba Ram Dass were. Hmmm. I wonder if part of the reason why he went to South America to learn from a Shaman was b/c of his fascination with hallucinogenics?
