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    What is a Functional Medicine Doctor? A Full Guide

    Lakisha DavisBy Lakisha DavisMay 31, 2025
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    What is a Functional Medicine Doctor? A Full Guide
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    Everything You Need to Know About Functional Medicine Doctors

    Healthcare and the life sciences are not monolithic disciplines; they advance at the pace of research, development, and practical adoption. We’ve come a long way since Hippocrates established medicine as a practice committed to scientific inquiry around 500 BC. Medical diagnostics and treatments are always being refined; they often undergo significant transformations as we examine new evidence and develop new understandings. When we look at the rise of functional medicine in recent years, we can see medical evolution in action.

    What is Functional Medicine

    Functional medicine is a patient-first approach to holistic healthcare; it seeks to consider all factors contributing to the root causes of disease. Restoring healthy functions is at the heart of this approach, which considers chronic diseases and imbalances across the three dimensions of health: body, mind and spirit.

    A holistic perspective is always preferred in functional medicine. The methodology calls for more extensive communication and evaluation between patients and their healthcare professionals. There’s an emphasis on lifestyle-based treatments to improve existing care, integrating modern medicine with a more tailored approach that addresses the underlying causes of illness. Although functional medicine can extend treatments for many conditions, most patients seeking this approach nowadays suffer from chronic diseases and autoimmune disorders.

    To get an idea of the functional medicine approach, consider the treatment of peptic ulcers. Not long ago, this condition was largely attributed to stress and nutrition, so the treatments focused on bland foods, relaxation, and antacids. Presently, we know that Helicobacter pylori bacteria are the main pathogens in most cases, so there has been a shift towards prescribing antibiotic treatments. Functional medicine goes a step further by considering what causes Helicobacter pylori to spread across the gut-brain axis and interact with pro-inflammatory cytokines. In other words, functional medicine specialists would evaluate intestinal flora production and lifestyle factors that may be interfering with and causing bacterial outbreaks.

    Functional medicine treatments such as those adhered to by Dr. Rajka Milanovic Galbraith go beyond treating symptoms and providing relief; they draw from multiple diagnostic and assessment tools to formulate treatment plans. An optimal way to understand functional medicine is to see it as a healthcare partnership between doctors and patients. The treatments are highly individualized and designed to promote long-term holistic health through various strategies.

    Is Functional Medicine Legitimate?

    The Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM) was established in the early 1990s as a non-profit professional association to oversee and advance this healthcare discipline. In the last two decades, more than a dozen American universities have implemented graduate degree programs in this field, which is open to physicians, nutritionists, nurses, therapists, and other healthcare professionals. In other words, functional medicine is a legitimate healthcare specialty that applies a modern approach to diagnostics and treatments.

    Integrative Medicine vs Functional Medicine

    The integrative approach of holistic healthcare is part of functional medicine. Like integrative medicine, functional healthcare welcomes complementary therapies such as chiropractic sessions, physical therapy, herbal medicine, personal training, and counseling. The difference is in the stronger focus of functional medicine on biochemical imbalances. For this reason, hormone replacement and optimization are treatments more commonly received by functional medicine patients.

    How to Find a Functional Medicine Doctor

    A physician who wants to practice as a functional medicine doctor must take additional years of training to get professional certifications. The IFM certification program requires medical licensing, academic credentials, and continuing education. Functional healthcare professionals must demonstrate competency in applying functional medicine principles before getting an IFM Certified Practitioner (IFMCP) credential. You can find functional medicine doctors on the Practitioner Listings of the IFM website.

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    Lakisha Davis

      Lakisha Davis is a tech enthusiast with a passion for innovation and digital transformation. With her extensive knowledge in software development and a keen interest in emerging tech trends, Lakisha strives to make technology accessible and understandable to everyone.

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