The paradigm of modern medicine as we know it has failed us in two respects.  The first is in the compartmentalization of health into several smaller parts. We lose sight of the essence of the body by looking too carefully at individual organs or disease states.  

​The terminology used to define different styles of medicine can bring on a certain degree of confusion. Especially around the era of “natural” foods, cosmetics, fabrics, etc. There’s been a growing consumer drive around these products and service, but what defines “natural?” How does this translate to the practice of medicine? Is Functional Medicine equivalent or different from Natural Medicine? 

One of the hardest questions I find myself struggling with is simply the question of what is “Functional Medicine”? 
 
The relative “newness” of the medical specialty may play a part into some of the challenge. Many observers might not even recognize what I do as a medical specialty at all. Let’s look at how a conventional specialty is defined and how through specialized treatment of the human body, mind and physiology have been splintered into limited subsets and categories.