Meliora Family Medicine

PHILOSOPHY

Integrative Approach

Integrative medicine is a holistic, “whole-person” approach to healthcare that integrates complementary, evidence based therapies with conventional medical care. For me, this means coordinating and functioning as part of a team that is larger than me and my practice. The team could be made up of any number of practitioners from conventional medical specialist, to physical therapy, massage, chiropractic, energy healers, homeopaths, etc.

With a focus on treating not only the body, but also the mind and spirit, integrative medicine draws on a wide range of different healing modalities to maximize each person’s ability to return to full health. The idea is that the body has its own innate healing ability, which simply needs to be awakened in order to promote optimal health and well-being

Holism

Holistic Medicine involves approaching the patient as an unique, whole person made up of a body, mind and spirit, living in a system which impacts their health.

A holistic practitioner:

views the patient as being ultimately responsible for his/her well being
fosters and maintains a partnership with the patient, using therapies which both feel comfortable
evaluates and recommends treatment options that address the cause of an illness, as well as the symptoms.

10 Principles of Holistic Medical Practice

Relationship Centered Care

The ideal practitioner-patient relationship is a partnership which encourages patient autonomy, and values the needs and insights of both parties. The quality of this relationship is an essential contributor to the healing process. Every aspect of my practice is intended to support this relationship. Important values in this relationship include mutual respect, trust, collaboration, communication and accountability.

Lifelong Learning

Every life experience is a learning opportunity, some more profound than others. I look forward to learning from my patients as much as they might learn from me. I also love learning for the sake of learning, and for the sake of finding new information that can help my patients.

Service

When you help, you see life as weak.
When you fix you see life as broken.
When you serve, you see life as whole.

Fixing and helping may cure.
Service heals.
- excerpt, author unknown

In the Service of Life (edited from a speech by Rachel Naomi Remen)

Conventional medical training teaches us to fix things in the disease model. While I do not want to abandon those skills, I am working to incorporate them into the larger theme of service to others.

Integrity

"The highest courage is to dare to be yourself in the face of adversity. Choosing right over wrong, ethics over convenience, and truth over popularity...these are the choices that measure your life. Travel the path of integrity without looking back, for there is never a wrong time to do the right thing." - Author Unkown

Every doctor should always act in the best interest of the patient. The unique setup of my practice allows me to be as free as possible from the influences of pharmaceutical and insurance companies.

Advocacy

"America's health care system is neither healthy, caring, nor a system."
— Walter Cronkite
I believe:

basic health care should be a right
health insurance does NOT equal health care
quality primary care should be the foundation of our health care system
emphasis should be on wellness and prevention, rather than disease

A critical part of my job is to be an advocate for my patients. Until national policy and payment structures align with these beliefs, I will look for ways to make our voices heard.