Episode 71: Maximizing Outcomes Through Collaboration and Practitioner Resilience
“Seriously? This is all we have to offer?” Tracy Harrison, principal instructor and founding CEO of the School of Applied Functional Medicine, found herself asking this question when her husband suddenly suffered a series of debilitating seizures and was a cocktail of drugs and very little information. This eye-opening incident spotlighted the current state of medicine which offers good disease care, but a major lack of actual health care, which Tracy says should address functional imbalances before such a major loss of vitality as to prompt a diagnosis and treatment. Patient and professional should engage in an ongoing, communicative relationship to maintain the patient’s health long term. Not only does this allow a patient ownership and authority over their own health, but allows the practitioners to be actualized.
Incentive is key. People don’t want to feel bound to a third party and a set of rules. Science shows there is no one path to health, and Tracy discusses the need to veer away from perfectionist mindset. At the School of Applied Functional Medicine, students’ diverse backgrounds allow each to contribute their own unique genius to the curriculum.
The approaches discussed here present a significant potential unburdening of disease care. Moreover, reactions from patients remind Tracy and Lara why they are so dedicated to the good medicine movement.
About Tracy Harrison, MS, Founder/Principal Instructor at SAFM:
Tracy Harrison is deeply passionate about transforming healthcare with the powerful combination of functional medicine and savvy clinical partnership. A scientist who left the high-tech corporate world in 2007, Tracy built a wildly successful, multi-modality practice utilizing functional medicine principles, and in 2011, she founded The School of Applied Functional Medicine™ (www.SchoolAFM.com).
SAFM is well-respected for its scientific rigor as an accredited continuing education program rooted in both the science and the artful practical application of functional medicine. The school’s tribe of diverse healthcare practitioners represents 20 different clinical modalities from 70 countries around the world. Tracy is a beloved educator and prized mentor in the field.
A scientist and systems engineer at heart, Tracy holds three degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and further graduate education from Bridgeport University and The Institute for Functional Medicine. She is also a certified health coach.
Tracy’s vision is for a Good Medicine Movement™ that honors conventional Disease care and establishes a true Health care system with proactive, preventive, patient-centric, personalized, systems-driven, root cause medical science and partnerships that minimize that disease care burden and its theft of human vitality and potential.
In This Episode We're Talking About:
- How your outcomes (for yourself AND your patients) will often be the highest if you open up to the power of multi-modality collaboration and partnership.
- Health care transformation will never be achieved and sustained unless the resilient vitality of the practitioner is prioritized as an essential outcome.
- You can know “all the right science” and “all the right interventions” and fail to help someone get well and stay well because we don’t partner with them to change their day-to-day choices (education, inspiration, empowerment, community – essential tools of health care).
Quotes:
- “We need a whole separate initiative and system that promotes…functional balance that naturally repels disease.” (5:05-5:23 | Tracy)
- “The car parked at the top of the hill…If you let it pick up some speed going downhill, it’s going to land in the ditch. It’s going to go in the lake.” (7:07-7:25 | Tracy)
- “You don’t evaluate the function of a car outside of the state of the road, the climate, the environment…we can’t separate the functional balance or lack thereof of a human system from diet, stress, sleep, relationships, personal fulfillment or belief systems.” (24:12-24:45 | Tracy)
- “We’re trying to tell people what the right answer is rather than partner with them to discover the right answer for themselves…no one will ever be sustainably healthy under that set of rules.” (27:09-27:33 | Tracy)
- “The day you get that email that says, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m pregnant and I’ve been trying for years… for the first time ever, I have hope.’ There’s no greater feeling of fulfillment and satisfaction.” (51:46-52:16 | Tracy)
Links for this Episode:
Connect with Tracy Harrison:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AppliedFunctionalMedicine
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/schoolappliedfunctionalmed/
Connect with Dr. Lara Salyer:
Symposium: https://drlarasalyer.com/symposium/
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Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer
TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor
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About The Catalyst Host, Dr. Lara Salyer:
I worked as a family physician for 15 years until burnout changed the trajectory of my career. I realized I wanted to start a holistic functional medicine practice in my rural hometown and made it happen. In addition to practicing functional medicine, I now mentor practitioners who are looking to change their paths in healthcare by using what I refer to as the “Catalyst Roadmap”. I share each step of this framework with listeners so that they may apply it to their careers, relationships, personal goals, and projects.
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