I want to know the true problems and challenges in providing "good" medicine. I have read so much about how doctors don't always feel they can help people in the existing healhcare system. Why is that?

What differences between Allopathic and Alternative Medicine. How do allopathic physicians view alternative and wellness physicians?

What are the barriers in the existing healthcare system that prevent doctors from helping patients?

how much training in "wellness" do you get in med school and training? Is med school training about treatment only or is there any training about helping patients stay healthy?

Wow, "problems in healthcare" is a really big topic. Everybody has a different opinion about what can stand in the way of good patient care. Here is my list, in no particular order:

1. Government interference
2. Insurance-company interference
3. Malpractice system
4. Influence of pharmaceutical and device companies
5. Food industry emphasis on the wrong foods
6. Patients not taking responsibility for their own health
7. Human error
8. Individual skills and knowledge of physicians
9. Greed in any of the parties
10. Financial stress in any of the parties
11. The imperfect state of medical knowledge
12. Providers working outside their scope of practice
13. Lack of effective political representation for doctors
14. Working conditions that are associated with exhaustion and (sometimes) impairment of physicians
15. Attitudes and systems of delivery that have evolved to cope with all the above rather than evolving to optimize patient care

I'm sure there are many more, and tons could be written about each of the above. It is very complicated, and it will surely become more complicated if either of the 2,000-page reform bills is passed.

Allopathic physicians usually view alternative providers in a negative way. I think some are good, some are harmless, and some are dangerous.

When I went to medical school, which was many years ago, there was very little about how to stay healthy and how the body can heal itself. Of course we were taught about the obvious evils, such as smoking and IV drug abuse, but we were not taught much about the importance of nutrition and exercise. Maybe that has changed lately, as more has been learned about these things. However, our country seems to be getting fatter and sicker, so there is plenty of room for improvement in wellness.

That's a pretty good list!

I would add that one of the biggest way many of those factors come together to frustrate MDs' ability to help patients is that they add up to MDs not being able to spend very much time per patient, often. Which means that even when you do know things you could do to promote wellness - eg, support for weight loss or smoking cessation - you just don't have time to do it.

My 2 cents on CAM: One of the advantages alternative providers have is that they've had a much less expensive education, and aren't usually covered by insurance anyways, so they can spend more time per patient - eg, take the time to help someone set up a full food/Sx chart and review it intermittently and decide which foods are affecting a patient negatively. On the flip side, of course, their less expensive education means there's a lot of medicine they don't know, and that can be dangerous.