ACFAS Position Statement

Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Approved by the ACFAS Board of Directors, July 2024

Download as PDF

The American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons (ACFAS) represents board-certified or qualified podiatric foot and ankle surgeons. ACFAS urges its members and their patients to use guidance related to complementary, alternative medicine (CAM) and integrative health.

ACFAS recognizes that there are different types of practitioners and proponents of the various
forms of alternative and conventional medicine. ACFAS recommends that the same principles and standards of evidence of treatment effectiveness apply to all treatments, whether currently labeled as conventional medicine or CAM. Implementing this recommendation requires that investigators use and develop as necessary common methods, measures, and standards for the generation and interpretation of evidence necessary for making decisions about the use of CAM and conventional therapies.