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Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Teacher, Partner and Gardener

What's Good Medicine?

2. DOCTOR AS TEACHER

A large part of what I do is teach patients how to get well and stay healthy, which is true Preventive medicine. I find both education and encouragement are of paramount importance in promoting self care and positive lifestyle changes, including a healthy diet and keeping the body active and moving, which are essential to health. In addition, teaching patients ways to support health by using herbs and nutrients which boost the immune system or improve functioning of the organs, helps prevent disease too.

3. DOCTOR AS PARTNER

I see myself as a partner in my patient’s health journey. Encouraging patients to be autonomous and to take responsibility for their own health, is preferable to imposing my beliefs, desires and decisions on them.

4. DOCTOR AS GARDENER

My Chinese Medicine teachers, Harriet Beinfield and Efram Korngold, taught me to see the body as a garden and myself, the doctor, as a gardener. When a plant is sick or not doing well, it is crucial to look at the environment within which the plant is growing, what is the quality of the soil, is it getting enough nutrients, does it have enough sun, water, etc, which is exactly how I see the body. The new Functional Medicine model looks at dis-ease and dysfunction the same way.

http://www.drfranklipman.com/philosophy/

www.DEPSYL.com

http://back2basicnutrition.com

http://bionutritionalresearch.olhblogspace.com

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