The University of Toronto recently stirred up a bit of controversy by offering an uncritical class on “Alternative Medicine.” A variety of bloggers and journalists brought up many valid concerns about the curriculum, but there is a much larger problem: No one is sure how best to teach that subject.

The dichotomy, however, between alternative and traditional medicine, or between Eastern and Western medicine, is a false one. We would be much better off if we could reframe the issue.

People often think of Eastern or alternative medicine as more “natural.” Many feel that Western medicine is built around technology and products produced in a lab. They’re not entirely wrong. Many of the gains that have been made in traditional medicine have been the result of innovation in laboratories.

But that doesn’t mean that everything doctors are taught in medical school involves a drug or device. I talk to patients all the time about diet and exercise. I don’t do this because there’s a company making money off it. I do it because both of these things have proved to be important for health.