1.  There are foundational differences in western medicine and oriental medicine.  Western medicine is based on treating affected local areas of the body through analysis and extensive research.  Oriental medicine is based on accumulation of practical knowledge and philosophy of Five Element Theory and Yin and Yang.  You could say the approach of western medicine is based on induction and the approach of oriental medicine is based on deduction.

2.  Diagnostic method of western medicine is much more sophisticated compared to oriental medicine since it is based on scientific research.  However, the success level of treatment and cure level is much greater in the oriental medicine.

3.  Western medicine uses local diagnosis and local treatment whereas oriental medicine uses total diagnosis and total treatment.  Diagnostic method of western medicine is based on changes in physical form and diagnostic method of oriental medicine is based on functional changes of the body using practical diagnostic method.

4.  In prevention, western medicine tries to find the reason and eliminates the cause of the illness which is killing germs and viruses.  In oriental medicine, we put emphasis on fortifying immune system through improving your physical constitution.  This is the reason why there are so many different kinds of antibiotics, and disinfectants in western medicine.  All the medications in oriental medicine are to help your body become stronger so you can resist all kinds of germs and viruses out there.

I will give you a few examples.  In western medicine, rheumatoid arthritis is considered as an illness caused by infection in nerve and body fluid.  They treat this illness by pain killer, hormone, and antibiotic.  In oriental medicine, rheumatoid arthritis is considered as an illness caused by nutrient deficiency in between the joints of your bone which is caused by stomach and spleen disorder.  Therefore, they treat the stomach and spleen through local acupuncture which opens up the flow of qi and blood in your body. 

In western medicine the aches in your body, including the back aches, are treated by painkiller and procaine blocking method.  Another words, flow of pain is stopped by blocking.  In oriental medicine smooth flow of qi and blood is promoted through opening the blockage by acupuncture.  In general, treatment of western medicine is treating particular symptoms by looking into the cause.  In oriental medicine, they look at the whole mechanisms of your bodily organs and fortify them and strengthen them so they become more resilient to all the ailments that you are constantly bombarded with. 

As you can see, there are numerous differences in between western and oriental medicine.  However, if you look deeper you can say that there are some fundamental similarities.  When you look at a human body, two different principles can not be applied to govern it.  It goes against whole philosophical principle.  In western medicine, they believe, condition of all living body needs to have proper balance and coordination of the basic metabolism.  In oriental medicine, we also believe, consuming the foods that are healthy for your body to maintain healthy being.  Therefore in order for a body to function properly, you need to take care of your metabolism to function normally and in this they unite.