Scientist Practitioners in Complementary Medicine Practice: A Case Study in an N-of-1 Trial

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the need for scientist practitioners in complementary medicine. It first addresses an epistemology grounded in the messy world of clinical practice as much as in the highly controlled world of the laboratory. It outlines the evolution of the scientist-practitioner model and then describes the N=1 experimental model, its history and its conceptual fit with the practice of  complementary medicine. Finally, using the six-stage Gibb’s reflective cycle, two scientist-practitioners reflect on their experiences of involvement in an N-of-1 trial and how it has impacted on their practice.