Almost anyone can say they practice functional medicine (even without a background in medicine, or even any formal training). We use a lot of non-pill options for treatment, such as recommending alterations in lifestyle and nutrition, but functional medicine is not intended to be all natural-treatment based or “ green allopathy”. Yes, supplements are often part of treatment, but these are not natural (most are made in a lab!). Functional medicine is “natural” medicine.But practicing this model of medicine is not easy, and there are many misperceptions about functional medicine. Bland developed the concept of functional medicine.įunctional medicine sounds like the answer for patients that are suffering and aren’t feeling better via a conventional medicine model, and for practitioners that are burned out by the medical system. One of my favorites (since I love educating my patients on the role of mucous and the gut), is this one which includes a brief story about how Dr. Jeffrey Bland found on PubMed (he is one of the founders of functional medicine, including IFM). For more of a background on how functional medicine originated, I highly recommend reading some articles by Dr. This care involves constantly asking “why” a symptom or condition is present. In my experience, the best functional medicine care comes from those that think through the biochemistry and physiology, and “treat” with a combination of patient education and evidence-informed treatments. There are many definitions for functional medicine, but please don’t go off Wikipedia’s definition (which indicates it’s “alternative” and “pseudoscience”)! The Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM), considered by many to be the “mothership” for functional medicine education, definition is most accurate but also a touch obscure. What is functional medicine, and what is not functional medicine? My go-to recommendations for those just getting started.Questions to ask as you look for the “best” fit.My perception on the downfalls of current functional medicine organizations.Defining the original concept of functional medicine.The educational opportunities have significantly expanded since the 90’s, and my recent research has identified over 120 organizations for functional or integrative medicine education!Īddressing the question as to what is the “best” option requires some more information, so I’ve laid out this article into 4 parts: Andrew Weil’s Integrative education programs, Townsend Letter, and reading scientific literature (and applying the findings to clinical practice). When I started my journey in functional medicine, in the 1990’s, learning was primarily from Dr. I moderate a private Facebook group for my PA and NP colleagues, and new members often ask about jobs in functional medicine, and how to get more training in this “specialty”.Ī few years ago I started collecting educational resources on functional and integrative medicine. One of my “extracurricular activities” involves supporting the education of my peers, particularly in the correct clinical use of functional medicine. And today, I work with the amazing team at Parsley Health. I started my path in functional and integrative medicine in the 90’s.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |