functional medicine and nutritional genomics - American Association ...

AAPI’S NUTRITION GUIDE TO OPTIMAL HEALTH: USING PRINCIPLES OF FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE AND AND NUTRITIONAL GENOMICS
matrix framework, and (5) establishing an
effective therapeutic partnership between practitioner
and patient.
Even using the functional medicine model that has
been reviewed here, no single practitioner—and no
single discipline—can cover all the viable
therapeutic options. Interventions will differ by
training, licensure, specialty focus, and even by
beliefs and ethnic heritage. However, all healthcare
disciplines (and all medical specialties) can—to
the degree allowed by their training and
licensure—use a functional medicine approach,
including integrating the matrix as a basic template
for organizing and coupling knowledge and data.
So, functional medicine can provide a common
language and a unified model to facilitate
integrated care. Regardless of which discipline the
primary care provider has been trained in,
developing a network of capable, collaborative
clinicians with whom to co-manage challenging
patients and to whom referrals can be made for
therapies outside the primary clinician’s own
expertise will enrich patient care and strengthen
the clinician-patient relationship.
This chapter provides a brief introduction to
functional medicine. Extensive additional information
and training opportunities are available in many
forms. The Institute for Functional Medicine
encourages all interested practitioners to study the
Textbook of Functional Medicine, sign up for the
5-day intensive Applying Functional Medicine in
Clinical Practice, and consider enrolling in IFM’s
Functional Medicine Certification Program. IFM also
offers eLearning options, a Functional Nutrition
Course, and an extensive list of webinars. More
information about all of these can be found at
www.functionalmedicine.org.
Significant portions of this chapter were excerpted
from 21st Century Medicine: A New Model for
Medical Education and Practice, a publication of
The Institute for Functional Medicine, and an
11
excellent source of extensive discussion and
references on the development of the acute-care
model and the need for a different approach to
the chronic disease epidemic. The document is
available by download, at no cost, on IFM’s
website:
http://www.functionalmedicine.org/ifm_ecommerce/P
roductDetails.aspx?ProductID=174 .
Other sections have been extracted from the
Textbook of Functional Medicine, also published by
IFM and is available on their website, as well as
other materials developed by IFM.
David S. Jones is the President and Director of
Medical Education of The Institute for Functional
Medicine, headquartered in Gig Harbor,
Washington. He has practiced as a family
physician with emphasis in functional and
integrative medicine for over 30 years. He is a
recognized expert in the areas of functional
medicine, the science of nutrition and lifestyle
changes for optimal health, and managed care, as
well as the daily professional functions consistent
with the modern specialty of Family Practice. Dr.
Jones is the recipient of the 1997 Linus Pauling
Award in Functional Medicine. He is the Past
President of PrimeCare, the Independent Physician
Association of Southern Oregon (IPASO)
representing the majority of physicians in the
Southern Oregon area. He has served as Chief of
Staff at the Ashland Community Hospital and as
President of the Southern Oregon Society of
Preventive Medicine. He was editor in chief of the
TEXTBOOK OF FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE,
published in 2005 and the lead author of a
recently published document: 21 ST CENTURY
MEDICINE: A New Model for Medical Education
and Practice (2009),.
Contact David Jones at the Institute of Functional
Medicine at 253-853-9282 or 541-488-1116.
Website: www.functionalmedicine.org
Sheila Quinn
2012