Traditional acupuncturists and higher education in Britain: the dual, paradoxical impact of biomedical alignment on the holistic view

Social Science & Medicine
Assaf Givati, Kieron Hatton

Abstract

Traditional acupuncturists' quest for external legitimacy in Britain involves the standardization of their knowledge bases through the development of training schools and syllabi, formal educational structures, and, since the 1990s, the teaching of undergraduate courses within (or validated by) Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), a process which entails biomedical alignment of the curriculum. However, as holistic discourses were commonly used as a rhetorical strategy by CAM practitioners to distance themselves from biomedicine and as a source of public appeal, this 'mainstreaming' process evoked practitioners' concerns that their holistic claims are being compromised. An additional challenge is being posed by a group of academics and scientists in Britain who launched an attack on CAM courses taught in HEIs, accusing them of being 'unscientific' and 'non-academic' in nature. This paper explores the negotiation of all these challenges during the formalization of traditional acupuncture education in Britain, with a particular focus on the role of HEIs. The in-depth qualitative investigation draws on several data sets: participant observation in a university validated acupuncture course; in-depth interviews; and documentary anal...Continue Reading

References

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Citations

Dec 25, 2016·Health Promotion International·Jae-Mahn Shim, Jibum Kim
Apr 10, 2018·Journal of Health Communication·Carla L FisherPaul Crawford
Jul 1, 2020·Public Understanding of Science·Pia VuolantoSuvi Salmenniemi
Feb 7, 2017·Health Sociology Review : the Journal of the Health Section of the Australian Sociological Association·Caragh Brosnan
Feb 23, 2021·Health·Assaf Givati, Shelley Berlinsky

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