What I Do

Physicians diagnose and treat disease. I do that.

But that’s only part of the job. We’re are also charged with preventing disease and building health. I do that, too. In fact, I’m kind of obsessed with it.

Diagnosis and treatment are reactive, and a very important part of modern medicine. And because reactive care has been so historically successful against acute disease like infection and trauma, it’s been the focus of healthcare for the past century.

But we neglected the other end of the timeline—the time before disease develops, when intervention is easiest, least disruptive, and most effective. Shifting the emphasis back to prevention and health is called proactive medicine, and it’s central to my practice.

Longevity

Surprisingly, this word scares a lot of people because they imagine being old for a really long time. The last thing they want is to live longer in a state of frailty and dependence. Admittedly, if we rely on reactive medicine to extend life, this fear is justified.

But the proactive approach holds different promise. By intervening early, we naturally extend heath, independence, and vitality. Longer life comes along for the ride, but the years added don’t prolong decline—they delay it.

This does not mean we abandon reactive medicine. On the contrary, all of us will need it, and its role in health and longevity remains essential. But staying ahead of disease and decline through proactive care, where possible, will generally yield greater extension of both lifespan and healthspan.

Precision

Every patient has different goals. Everyone is at a different place in their health journey. Knowing how to apply proactive principles—and when to intervene reactively—requires a precision approach.

Precision means humanizing the science: understanding the studies done on populations, and applying that evidence to the person sitting in front of me. Their history and habits, priorities and predispositions, and strengths and struggles matter as much as any randomized clinical trial.

This, as I see it, is the practice of medicine. And I love it.