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Integrative Health and Medicine

Dr. Mimi GuarneriIn medical school, we are trained to practice the “pill for every ill” approach, and that’s how I was trained as a cardiologist—to make a diagnosis and then prescribe an appropriate pharmaceutical therapy or surgery. This approach makes perfect sense in acute care, such as when a patient is having a heart attack or stroke and you need to act quickly. But with any chronic disease or the types of issues I see every day, whether it’s diabetes, hypertension, psoriasis, eczema, or depression, Western medicine seeks to name it, blame, tame it—without getting to the underlying cause.

My whole journey as an integrative medicine practitioner has been focused on health creation, to answer the question: How do we create health? One of the key steps, which is not really taught in medical school, is to understand the root cause of disease so that we can put in place a program that goes beyond pharmaceuticals to slow down or even reverse the disease process.

An Integrative Approach to Disease Prevention

In the early part of my medical career, treatment largely consisted of pharmaceuticals, surgery, and maybe some physical therapy. Patients would complain about stressful life events, financial stress, depression, or bodyweight issues, and all we had to dispense was medications. So, I began to look for other options for my patients. In the 1990s, I conducted research with Dr. Dean Ornish in which we asked a fundamental question: Can we reverse coronary disease through lifestyle changes? Study participants practiced yoga and meditation or maintained vegetarian diets or an exercise regimen, and the results were eye-opening. We realized that not only is disease preventable, but it’s reversible. This set me on the journey of seeking to understand the root cause of illnesses—to treat the whole person and empower people to take charge of their health.

In health care today, we dispense pharmaceuticals too liberally. For example, in treating depressed patients, instead of trying to figure out why the person is depressed—did the patient’s dog die? is the patient not getting enough sun? is the patient isolated?—we give different depressed patients the same therapy—an antidepressant. Nine out of 10 times, we as doctors are just not looking deeply enough.

Integrative medicine emphasizes root causes. Here’s an easy way for my patients to understand an integrative approach to health: I ask, “If you have a tree, and it’s not doing well, what do you do?” Naturally, answers involve fixing the soil, fertilizing the tree, or increasing watering and sun exposure. I have my patients label the branches of the tree—high blood pressure, diabetes, whatever health condition they’re dealing with. Western medicine would be inclined to dispense a drug for every disease or branch of this tree, but integrative medicine looks at the soil, at the roots. So, an integrative approach to treatment focuses on micro- and macro-nutrition, sleep, stress, exercise, community, and lifestyle.

Whereas conventional medicine prescribes medicines for chronic conditions, integrative medicine focuses on disease prevention. I believe what’s good for the heart is good for the brain. On a philosophical level, love is the greatest healer. How you connect with others makes a difference to your health. I believe that when people are lonely, depressed, angry, or stressed, they don’t always make the best health choices, but if they are happy, joyful, and have a purpose in life—things that we don’t talk about in medical school—making healthy decisions will come naturally.

Mimi Guarneri, MD, is a board-certified physician in cardiovascular disease, internal medicine, and integrative holistic medicine, and a founding board member of the American Board of Integrative Medicine® (ABOIM®), which is governed by the American Board of Physician Specialties® (ABPS).  

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Administrative Medicine
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Ashish Anand, MD, FAASOS
Ashish Anand, MD, FAASOS
Orthopedic Surgery
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Jeffrey B. Stricker, DO, MBA, FAASD
Jeffrey B. Stricker, DO, MBA, FAASD
Dermatology
Serving as a member on the American board of Integrative Medicine (ABOIM) for many years and now serving as a Member at Large of the American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS) has been an enriching and rewarding experience. The board’s commitment to excellence, integrity, and positive impact is truly inspiring. I am grateful to collaborate with such a dedicated and visionary group, and I am proud of the meaningful progress we continue to achieve together.

Arti Prasad, MD, FACP
Arti Prasad, MD, FACP
Integrative Medicine
There are many ways board certification advances a physician career. ABPS Board examination verifies your accuracy, precision, and reflects your mastery of your residency training verifying your expertise. ABPS Board certification demonstrates your level of expertise beyond your practice experience, primary education degrees, and training which are necessary for insurance reimbursement and practice privilege requirements. Attaining your ABPS Board Certification will clarify your purpose, secure your practice growth, and expand into leadership positions. Board certification can serve as an indication of a physician’s commitment to medicine, beyond the minimal standards and competency of training, their measurement to quality of care, and attaining an award for excellence.

Chris Kunis MD
Internal Medicine
When the American Board of Physician Specialties offered to host the American Board of Integrative Medicine, ABPS became a landmark organization working to move medicine into the twenty first century. Certifying physicians who have completed rigorous academic training in Integrative Medicine ensures that the field of Integrative Medicine will continue to develop academically, clinically, and professionally. The leadership of ABPS continues to impress me - they are diligent in constantly innovating to provide certifications for physicians who want to advance their careers and their areas of expertise. I am honored to be a part of this organization.

Ann Marie Chiasson, MD
Integrative Medicine
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Art Cooper, MD
Disaster Medicine
Far too often, medicine is led by less than 5% of non-practicing physicians taking away and replacing the voice of the 95% of physicians practicing and placing patient safety and care first on the front lines every day. The American Board of Physician Specialties has raised the standards in physician board certification not only in the quality of their boards of certification, but in hearing and allowing for the voice of those active physicians caring directly for patients. Having been a part of the ABPS over the last 28 years has allowed me to grow as a woman leader in a field often wrought with challenges. It helped me and others raise the bar of the standards of care in my specialty, Emergency Medicine, through their Board Certification in Emergency Medicine (BCEM). ABPS also helped raise the standards of care for 21st century medicine through their certifications in other specialties, particularly in Integrative Medicine & Disaster Medicine. Having physician voices heard matters to medicine and is essential in the betterment of patient safety and care.

Sarah E. Gilbert, MD, FAAEP
Sarah E. Gilbert, MD, FAAEP
Emergency Medicine
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