Who is
Majid Ali, M.D.
► Dr. Ali's CV

Majid Ali is a pioneer who is changing the face of medicine with his innovative and spirited approach.

His credentials are impeccable Complementary Medicine Journal

"I stand in awe of Ali's superb scientific knowledge, his insights into the nature of the the healing process and his ability to explain hard science."

Aubrey Worrell, MD
Past President, the American Academy of
Environmental Medicine

Majid Ali, M.D.
Editor, The Journal of Integrative Medicine

Formerly, Associate Professor of Pathology (adj.), College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, NY

Formerly, President of Staff and
Chief Pathologist, Holy Name Hospital, Teaneck, NJ

Fellow, Royal College of Surgeons of England - Diplomate,

American Board of Anatomic and Clinical Pathology

Diplomate, American Boards of Environmental Medicine

Past President Capital University of Integrative Medicine

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Scientific Validation of Integrative Medicine
(Freedom of Thought at Capital University of Integrative Medicine)

    Following is a quote from a letter I received from a student:

        "When I spoke about the need for scientific validation of the statements made from lectrurers at CUIM, I was referring specifically to health care practitioners who have made unsubstantiated claims about certain vitamins, herbs or other supplements without any validation of those claims. It may come as some surprise to you that that happened with some regularity during these past two years at CUIM. One lectrurer even presented an overhead of a complicated diagram and informed the class that this was a picture of the "anatomy of a chakra." When and how, I wondered, did someone surgically excise and pathologically evaluate a chakra? Actually I had to leave the room because of the audacity of her claims. It is this unscientific information that I reffered to during a meeting."

    This is a critical issue that I also struggled with at CUIM. During the early period of CUIM's evolution, there were times I also wanted to simply walk out of the classroom for the same reason. I was troubled because I saw in those presentations a serious threat to the credibility of the university. Now I take those types of presentation in stride.

    I am grateful to that student for giving me an opportunity to address this crucial issue. The enlightened ancients developed conceptual models to explain their empirical observations about healing phenomena. If one were to take their writings at face value, there are simply too many inconsistencies there to permit anyone to take them seriously. The ancients, it seems to me, employed some abstractions deliberately. They seem to recognize that many among their listeners and readers will not differentiate between what is visible to the eyes (physical aspects) and what remains invisible (conceptual models). Every culture in every epoch had such models. The three widely recognized and employed in clinical practice are the seven Indian chakras, the multiple Chinese acupuncture meridians, and the four Greek humors. Each of those systems has well served its practitioners and the sick and has stood the test of time. It is also likely that advances in medical technology will clarify the essential conecpts of those systems and perhaps provide direct supportive evidence in some areas. I discuss the issue of the four Greek humors at lenghth in the forthcoming book, The Principles and Practice of Integrative Medicine.

    Having said that, I agree with the student that to present some elaborate diagram and describe the "anatomy" of seven chakras is a travesty of the scientific method. Anatomy is a scientific discipline of morphology and concerns what is demonstrable with dissection and/or microscopy. No one has ever dissected chakras to examine them with the naked eye, with some microscopic optics, or any other technology for examining morphology. So for anyone to claim that he/she knows the anatomy of chakras is grossly misleading. Similarly, I have heard at CUIM the claim that the physics of acupuncture is known. Next, the speaker spoke of two physics, one of physicists and the other of acupuncturists. Such claims are unworthy of any serious student of healing arts. I will gladly accept the physics of acupuncture when technologic advances allow us to measure the subtle energy pathways implicit in acupuncture meridians. To my knowledge, such documentation has not been done.

    Do such overzealous (and simplistic) presentations put the credibility of CUIM in jeopardy? In my view, they do. How should the university address this issue? If we use administrative fiat to exclude such speakers, we face the clear danger of repeating the serious errors made by the allopathic medical schools. In banning teachers of other healing arts, they turned their backs on enormously rich empirical experience in those healing arts. That mistake must be avoided at CUIM. In dismissing empiricism in medicine, allopathic teachers also sacrificied human intuition. I address the issue of intuition in healing arts in my editorial entitled "Intuition in Servitude of Analysis," included in the Appendix.

    I believe the real answer to the problem is: All of us at CUIM must learn how to separate theoretical (and clinically useful) models from verifiable facts of human biology and suffering. We learn to graciously look beyond the innocent efforts of some to bring false prestige to their work by pseudoscience. We must have the strength to seek out what is of empirical value in the experience being presented. Science is its own guardian. It needs protection from the uninitiated.

        No matter what you hear, from whom, seeking the truth in what you hear is your wisdom.
                                Ancient Sanskrit writings