well I don't know how it is in the states in regards to having a license to practice, but here in Korea, the oriental doctors are seen just as highly as the western doctors, if not higher, due to the eastern culture/ eastern medicine ties. They have to graduate from a top rated university. And yes, there really isn't any good research studies to back it up, but the treatment that you get is a mixture of usually more than 10 herbs, personalized to your symptoms. Acupuncture also seems very suspicious, "wait so you're going to put 10 needles in my body, including areas not affected? And I'll improve?", but sometimes it just seems to "work" for some people. Eastern medicine is so mysterious, but at the same time, theres a reason it's still sticking around after thousands of years. But I do agree with you in that you shouldn't just go blindly into eastern medicine. You should know exactly what the doctor is treating (in terms of meridian points, roots, branches... whatnot) and which herbal ingredients he is using, and use that information to research how much you think you would benefit from this. I'm just saying it seems like the majority of us (westerners) cringe at the thought of eastern medicine as a whole and tend to brush it off.