allopathic medicine
Meaning of allopathic medicine: Allopathic medicine is the conventional biomedical system built on drugs, surgery, and other interventions supported by scientific research, in contrast with alternative approaches.
Definition of allopathic medicine
Allopathic medicine is a system of health care in which physicians and other trained professionals, including nurses, pharmacists, and therapists, diagnose and treat disease using approaches such as medications, surgery, and radiation, guided by evidence gathered through scientific research and clinical trials. It is the dominant system of medical practice taught in medical schools and used in hospitals throughout much of the world.
The term allopathic was originally used to distinguish this conventional approach from homeopathy, a separate system based on different principles, and the word is still used today mainly in contrast with alternative or complementary approaches to health care rather than as a term physicians commonly apply to themselves.
Allopathic medicine is also known by several other names, including conventional medicine, mainstream medicine, and Western medicine, all referring to the same broad system of evidence based diagnosis and treatment practiced by most physicians and hospitals.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
The patient continued allopathic medicine alongside a complementary acupuncture regimen for symptom relief.
Good to know
Allopathic medicine is a label most often used in contrast with alternative systems of care, since physicians practicing within it typically describe their work simply as medicine rather than as allopathic medicine.
Word origin
Where “allopathic medicine” comes from
Formed from Greek allos, meaning other, and pathos, meaning suffering or disease, originally used to contrast this approach with treatments based on a different guiding principle.