ABOUT HIM
Dr Russell Greenfield (MD) is a nationally prominent physician recognized for his work in wellness and integrative medicine. He graduated from Brandeis University to attend The Chicago Medical School. After graduating, he completed his internship, residency and a fellowship in Emergency Medicine at Harbor / U.C.L.A. Medical Center. In 1997, he began a life-changing fellowship at the University of Arizona Program in Integrative Medicine under the tutelage of Dr. Andrew Weil.
Dr. Greenfield served as the founding director of Carolinas HealthCare System's Carolinas Integrative Health, and has performed several leadership roles with both Carolinas Medical Center and Presbyterian Hospital. He is an assistant professor at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill as well as the University of Arizona, and teaches in many other capacities at universities and symposiums around the world. Russ holds positions and chairmanships on several advisory boards, is a book author, having co-written "Healthy Child, Whole Child" (HarperCollins) as well as an advisor, reporter, editor and reviewer for several publications including scientific and medical journals. He was a medical advisor for the Weil Lifestyle newsletter, an editorial advisor on the Ask Dr. Weil Website, and has been appeared on radio and television talk shows including the Tavis Smiley Show, Carolina Business Review and House Call with Sanjay Gupta.
Dr Greenfield is also a consultant and spokesperson for Harris Teeter's YourWellness Campaign and is developing several outreach projects to make health and wellness accessible and attainable for everyone. He also maintains a consultative medical practice in Charlotte, North Carolina where he lives with his family.
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
Empowered Mommies (EM): Dr Greenfield, thank you again for giving us the opportunity to sit down with you. You are such a wonderful role model not only as an expert in the medical field, but also as an advocate of Integrative Medicine and Health & Wellness. Can you share with us how you began your career and what made you decide to focus on this field?
Dr Russel Greenfield (DRG): Thank you for your kind words, but honestly my path has been one of extreme good fortune. When I entered medical school I knew I wanted to be a small town family physician, but during my second year I was exposed to a relatively new field - emergency medicine - and I was hooked. I was drawn to the idea of being part of a team that could intervene both quickly and appropriately in the setting of an emergency, be it in the form of a heart attack, a traumatic injury, or a child with an asthma attack.
After years of working in the emergency department (ED) I began to notice signs indicative of problems within our healthcare system. They included the fact that most of the patients seen in the ED had physical maladies that were being well cared for, but whose wounds of an emotional, family and spiritual nature were gaping yet had largely not been addressed. Many of the patients had problems that might have been preventable if they'd received training in basic healthy dietary and lifestyle guidelines, but few had. In addition, most patients, nurses, doctors, and hospital administrators were not happy with the way things were.
It was clear that the healthcare system as a whole was heading in the wrong direction, even as many good things were happening in medicine. Where the focus should have been on health, it was instead clearly on treating illness. I knew something needed to be done, and I wanted to help right our course.
I learned about the Program in Integrative Medicine from a magazine article in 1996 and applied right away. I was fortunate to be accepted into the very first class of the program's existence and my family and I moved out to Tucson, AZ, where I studied directly under many wonderful people at The University of Arizona College of Medicine, including Dr. Andrew Weil, for 2 years. It was there that I rediscovered what drew me to the art of medicine in the first place - that healing takes place in relationship, and that the relationship between patient and practitioner should be sacred and healing; that the focus must be on prevention, not intervention, and optimizing health, not just treating disease. During my time in AZ I also learned that, indeed, a small number of people can contribute to making the world a better place. I watched them do it, and rededicated myself to contributing to the effort of bettering our healthcare system so that more people could reach their true potential, something that can only happen if they are healthy.
As I said, I am extremely fortunate. I know how to take care of people in the most dire of medical circumstances, and I also know how to help people stay healthy and not need the ED.
EM: What do you think are some of the challenges parents are facing today in terms of their children's medical care?
DRG: The challenges are daunting and numerous, from the media (information overload, some of it misinformation, to fear-mongering) and our medical system (that promotes efficiencies and patient throughput with little attention to the time needed for the healing relationship between family and practitioner), to insurance worries, to the social "norms" of the times (fast food, no physical education in schools, poor food choices in some schools, and harmful messaging in the media).
In addition, a growing number of parents are wondering about select alternative therapies, but who are they to turn to? The 17-year old behind the health food store desk? Their doctor who may not be trained in alternative therapies? Or do they simply not discuss their interests with the doctor for fear of being denigrated? As parents, we need to identify a health practitioner for our children who meets us on our values without judgment, and who can hold meaningful and authentic discussions on the variety of treatment options available, and so guide us through science and compassion. It's a challenging world in many ways, and while we can't control all that's out there, we need to take control of what we can.
EM: Based on your experience, how do you think pediatrics has changed over the years and why?
DRG: Family Medicine and Pediatrics are the two medical specialties most naturally aligned with the philosophy of integrative medicine. Practitioners have chosen these fields in large part because they are patient and family oriented, so the healing relationship comes natural to them. They see the innate potential for healing within everyone, and work to bring it forth in the best way possible.
Both fields, however, have suffered under the changes we have witnessed in our healthcare system - a greater emphasis on specialists rather than primary care, a focus on high-tech intervention rather than disease prevention and optimizing health, and the sense that there's a "pill" for any given malady. We need to get back to the recognition of the wonder of the human body and spend more time exploring and understanding the human body's innate healing capacity, of which children have perhaps the strongest of anyone. We need to both trust and support each individual's innate healing system.
EM: What do you think are the biggest misconceptions when it comes to integrative care?
DRG: Most people equate alternative medicine with integrative medicine - not true. Alternative medicine is a term I don't like because it implies we're using something instead of conventional medicine. I'm a conventionally trained M.D. and I honor and use conventional medical therapies regularly where indicated. Complementary medicine is another term that people use, but there's no foundational philosophy behind it. Integrative medicine is defined as healing oriented medicine that takes account of the whole person, body mind and spirit, family, community and environment, and all aspects of diet and lifestyle. It emphasizes the healing relationship and makes use of all appropriate therapies, be they deemed conventional or alternative. Integrative medicine neither rejects conventional medicine nor accepts alternative therapies uncritically, for good healthcare is based in good science. Thus, rather than an "either / or" approach, within integrative medicine there is the opportunity to combine the best of all approaches to facilitate the optimal functioning of a person's unique healing system.
EM: You recently co-wrote and published your first book with Dr. Stuart Ditchek (MD): “Healthy Child, Whole Child” which has received great recognition and praise. Can you tell us what inspired you to write the book and how did you and Dr. Ditchek come together on this project?
DRG: Again, thank you for your kind words. Dr. Ditchek, a pediatrician, and I met at a conference while we were each looking for goodies to bring back home to our children. We began discussing the fact that many of our patients were interested in aspects of alternative medicine, but had no trustworthy resources to turn to in order to access credible health information in this regard. We even admitted that we ourselves were seeking such resources for our own families. Thus the spark of interest grew into the passionate flame that drove the creation of our book. Together with our gifted co-author Lynn Willeford, herself a mother and a healer, we strove to create a guide for any parent looking to take greater control of their child's health and well being. We worked to make sense of all the clutter of information out there regarding the raising of healthy kids, and did our best to offer an easy to follow guide for healthy living that is based in good science, that honors the knowledge and intuition that parents have of their own children, and that helps defeat fear.
EM: In the book you discuss the key principles of integrative care, can you highlight those for us?
DRG: I think I've set the stage with my answer to question #4, but if you'll indulge me I'll offer additional key points taken directly from the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine where I trained:
- Patients and practitioner are partners in the healing process.
- Appropriate use of both conventional and alternative methods facilitates the body's innate healing response.
- Effective interventions that are natural and less invasive should be used whenever possible.
- Alongside the concept of treatment, the broader concepts of health promotion and the prevention of illness are paramount.
- Practitioners of integrative medicine should exemplify its principles and commit themselves to healthy living and self-development.
EM: If you had to look forward a decade, how do you hope your book will have influenced parents understanding of integrative medicine and overall health wellness of their family?
DRG: Our desire was to help individual families to raise healthy kids using an approach that helps to prevent illness and optimize health, and that employs the philosophy of integrative medicine. If we could help one family raise even one child more healthily through our book, it would be cause for humble joy. Beyond that, we hoped the guide would further the discussion about the future of our healthcare system, and emphasize the need to promote healthy dietary and lifestyle habits where they might set the stage for a long, healthy and fulfilling life - in schools, the home and the doctor's office. As the healthcare "debate" moves from insurance reform to the content of care, that hope remains unchanged.
EM: Dr. Greenfield, thank you again for your time!
DRG: Thank you Ivanna.