Since when did an essentially incoherent term replace “medical doctor”? I’m talking about “allopathic,” which literally means “different suffering” and was invented by Samuel Hahnemann, the creator of homeopathy, to be deliberately insulting. Now the term is being used by ACEP leaders to differentiate between MDs and DOs. It doesn’t. It differentiates both from homeopaths. If you need to discuss physicians separately, the correct terms are “medical doctor” and “osteopathic physician.” If you need to combine the professions, the best descriptive term is “scientific medicine”—which is, after all, how we differ from the quacks. Check Wikipedia—even they have this one right!
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ACEP Now: Vol 34 – No 08 – August 2015—Mark Hauswald, MD, FACEP
Telluride, Colorado
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