I completed my medical training at the University of Miami School of Medicine, Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, and the University of Colorado. All three hospital systems took care of people with incredibly complex health issues. This gave me an appreciation for what people endure while sick, the value of colleagues with subspecialty training that could help me treat tough cases, and the harm that a thoughtless lifestyle can wreak on the human body. I also had questions during that time about the treatment approaches we used and how hospitals operated, but shelved them as the volume of patients was so demanding.
My initial positions out of training included working in the emergency room on Indian reservations, where I was often the only physician for hundreds of miles, as well as in an inner-city hospital. After a few years, I joined the staff of Kaiser Permanente and together we created the first hospitalist system in Denver.
I loved the work and loved my team. But I began to seriously question how we were doing things.
Call is kismet, synchronicity, or just plain good fortune but a chance meeting with Dr. Andrew Weil led me to be admitted into the first class of physicians in the United States trained directly by Dr. Weil at the University of Arizona in the new specialty of Integrative Medicine. This two-year experience blew open my understanding of how we get sick and how we heal. I was trained directly by some of the best in the field. It was a remarkable and life-altering few years.
From there, learning has never stopped: I was one of the first physicians certified by the Institute for Functional Medicine, trained in acupuncture, in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, and by Dr. Dale Bredesen in the Recode Program to prevent and reverse dementia. I have studied nutrition, herbs, genomics, guided imagery, chi gong, yoga and more. I believe artificial intelligence is going to reshape medicine in the not-too-distant future.
My positions have included creating and acting as Medical Director of the Integrative Medicine Center at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare in Chicago, Medical Director of Canyon Ranch Miami Beach, Director of Functional Medicine at Rezilir Health and now Medical Director for the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Miami.
Aside from a commitment to life-long learning, I am married to a brilliant massage therapist/body worker and have two teenaged kids that are a source of humility and pride. I keep my own brain engaged be reading the latest literature and trying (forever) to learn Hebrew. I am passionate about healthy, tasty food, the outdoors, moving my body, recycling everything and a great night’s sleep.
My practice philosophy is simple: we have an intrinsic capacity to heal. My job is to work with you to optimize this.
