Enhancing Affected person Health: way of life medication in observe throughout psychiatry, pediatrics and first care – School of Medicine Greenville

When SOMG opened to its inaugural class in 2012, founding dean Jerry Youkey, MD, knew
way of life medication belonged within the curriculum—not simply as an elective, however as an built-in
a part of each fundamental science course and medical coaching. 

“One of the issues I needed within the curriculum was not solely instruction on find out how to take
care of sick sufferers but in addition instruction on find out how to maintain sufferers from a
prevention and wellness standpoint,” mentioned Youkey. “This is normally restricted to main
care nonspecialists, however, as a vascular surgeon, I noticed the ravages among the many sufferers
of not caring for themselves over time, and I felt way of life medication wanted
to be within the curriculum.” 

Youkey recruited and labored with way of life medication skilled Jennifer Trilk, PhD, to
prepare SOMG’s constitution class and all subsequent medical college students within the six pillars
of way of life medication: optimum vitamin, bodily exercise, restorative sleep, stress
administration, social connectedness, and dangerous substance avoidance. Today, our college students
obtain over 100 hours of way of life medication instruction throughout all 4 years of
medical schooling curriculum, and SOMG is one among solely two medical colleges within the nation
to earn the “Platinum Plus” certification from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.
In 2024, SOMG’s present dean Phyllis MacGilvray, MD, launched SOMG’s new mission assertion—Educate. Innovate. Serve. Where Lifestyle is Medicine. —and have become the primary medical college dean within the nation to be board-certified in
way of life medication. 

Lifestyle Medicine works throughout medical specialties to assist sufferers. Three SOMG charter-class
alumni share how they incorporate way of life medication of their practices right now, one
decade after graduating from SOMG.  Read their tales right here: 

Andrew See, MD, FAAFP

Family medication doctor and American Academy of Family Physicians fellow Andrew
See, MD, doesn’t simply speak the discuss way of life medication. He walks the stroll. Literally.
He makes use of a strolling pad to train whereas conducting cellphone calls in his workplace, and
he makes walking-and-talking look straightforward. In his private life, See spends a lot of his
free time kayaking, mountaineering, mountain climbing and cooking. Looking again, See shared that
SOMG’s concentrate on way of life medication and the chance to have a hands-on function in
his medical schooling had been two driving components in his resolution to enroll within the brand-new
medical college in 2012.

“In their imaginative and prescient from the very starting, folks at SOMG talked about holistic, patient-first
medication and actually advocated for way of life medication coaching. I nonetheless bear in mind how
our train physiology professor Dr. Trilk was so enthusiastic about it,” mentioned See.
“Also, as a result of the varsity was new, we had loads of say in our schooling. It was thrilling
to have the ability to construct and be part of one thing from the very starting. We had been the
first college students to plan out the medical roots backyard. I used to be on the committee for getting
furnishings for the constructing. All these totally different points of increase the varsity
collectively made our class’s expertise so distinctive.”

Today, one among See’s favourite points of incorporating way of life medication into his
household medication observe in California is working longitudinally with sufferers to
assist them grow to be their finest selves. 

“It’s so cool to see folks grow to be on the surface who they at all times felt like they had been
on the within. I really like having conversations with sufferers about vitamin, developing
with train plans, going over meals logs, and all of that got here from medical college,”
mentioned See. 

See is proud to domesticate long-term relationships with sufferers, typically treating
a number of generations of the identical household, and to supply leading edge weight problems and way of life
medication remedies to sufferers.

“I really like that I’m in a position to develop relationships with my sufferers the place we are able to actually
check out what they’re doing and the way they’re residing their life, and I might help
empower them as an individual,” mentioned See. “A lesson I’m deeply grateful for from medical
college is knowing the angle that medication isn’t nearly prescribing
capsules. Medications have an vital function in medication, however a lot extra of my observe
right now is knowing my affected person and nurturing the relational side of main care.
When somebody is within the hospital, the purpose is to get them effectively sufficient to go away the
hospital, not essentially to repair the foundation reason for their issues. Whereas this morning,
I had 4 totally different sufferers formally come off blood strain medicines after working
to rework their day by day habits, which is so thrilling.” 

Charlotte Van Hale, MD

Charlotte Van Hale, MD, accomplished two residencies, one in 2019 and one in 2022, as a result of
she genuinely loves two totally different specialties: inner medication and psychiatry. Today,
Van Hale is an attending psychiatrist at Emory Midtown and an assistant professor
at Emory University School of Medicine within the departments of psychiatry and inner
medication. She additionally works on the med-psych unit at Grady, works weekly in a ladies’s
psychological well being clinic, gives psychodynamic psychotherapy via the Emory Psychoanalytic
Institute, and most not too long ago welcomed her first-born youngster in August. After itemizing
every little thing on her plate, Van Hale laughed about her aversion to boredom, citing selection
as “the spice of life.” 

When discussing her observe, Van Hale defined how way of life medication performs a serious
function in each bodily and psychological wellness, which can shock some of us. The on a regular basis
particular person could consider psychological and bodily well being as disconnected, however that couldn’t
be farther from the reality. 

“The thoughts and the physique do not exist individually. They’re related. Whatever is sweet
to your coronary heart and your metabolic well being goes to be good to your psychological well being,”
mentioned Van Hale. “What impacts the thoughts impacts the physique, and what impacts the physique
impacts the thoughts.” 

Patients can typically really feel overwhelmed when serious about weight loss plan and train modifications.
It might be troublesome to determine how, when, and the place to start out. Van Hale encourages
any affected person courageous sufficient to ask questions on way of life modifications or strive new issues
right here and there. First steps are vital steps, and Van Hale feels “thrilled when
sufferers are doing no matter it’s that works finest for them.” 

For some sufferers, way of life enhancements embrace taking over yoga, energy coaching,
operating, or counting macros. For different sufferers, way of life enhancements look extra
like discovering time for night walks after work, getting exterior with their households
on the weekends, or spending time destressing in nature.

“Even going from largely sedentary to evenly energetic has benefitted a few of my sufferers
tremendously when it comes to their temper,” mentioned Van Hale. “Personally, I’m an enormous proponent
of energy coaching. Across the board, we’re seeing increasingly of the physiological
advantages of simply how vital energy coaching is, so I encourage that with all
of my sufferers. But, finally, once you speak to sufferers about weight loss plan and train,
they are going to make no matter modifications curiosity them most, and that’s okay. I’m simply
joyful every time they’re in a position to make a constructive change, it doesn’t matter what it’s. It’s
vital to satisfy sufferers the place they’re.” 

Kindal Dankovich, MD

Kindal Dankovich, MD, is a board-certified pediatric hospitalist, the affiliate program
director for Prisma Health Greenville’s pediatric residency program, a member of the
SOMG Dean’s Council, and a member of a nationwide committee main the cost on transitioning
pediatric applications to competency-based medical curriculums and coaching. 

As a pediatrician, Dankovich’s observe spans the new child nursery, hospital and clinic.
Whether she is reassuring a first-time guardian, serving to a hospitalized youngster and household
navigate restoration, or constructing continuity with sufferers as they develop, Dankovich sees
pediatrics as a possibility to help the well being of whole households. That begins
with belief.

“Right now, there’s loads of distrust within the medical neighborhood, so we now have to work
further laborious typically to construct relationships with households,” mentioned Dankovich. “Sometimes
I’m taking further time within the new child nursery with a first-time guardian, speaking them
via routine new child care with their very wholesome child a number of occasions till they
really feel assured, and that makes me so joyful. Sometimes there’s a kiddo within the hospital
who’s exceptionally sick, and I’m partnering with the household and strolling via
that journey with them in direction of restoration, which might be extremely rewarding even when
it’s laborious. Having some affected person continuity within the clinic and understanding kiddos are relying
on you to make them the healthiest model of themselves as they transfer in direction of maturity
and seeing them develop and achieve their objectives is unbelievable. It simply makes all of it
price it on the finish of the day.”

Lifestyle medication is central to Dankovich’s work. While wholesome consuming and train
are vital, Dankovich emphasizes that physicians and physicians in coaching should
be taught to handle the social determinants of well being that may make way of life medication
objectives troublesome to realize for a lot of sufferers. 

“Many households know that consuming more healthy and exercising are the correct issues to do
to be wholesome, however they don’t at all times understand how they’re supposed to do this with so
many limitations in place,” mentioned Dankovich. “Having physicians and companions in the neighborhood
to assist join households with neighborhood assets, wholesome meals choices and protected locations
to train is exceptionally vital and might create lasting change. It doesn’t simply
form the way forward for the kid. It shapes the way forward for your complete household.” 

Dankovich seems to be ahead to celebrating with the cherished classmates who helped carry
the dream of SOMG to life as she and her fellow constitution class members put together to reunite
this October for the ten-year anniversary of their commencement. 

“I cannot wait to see some of my classmates who I haven’t seen in years,” mentioned Dankovich.
“My classmates are phenomenal. To see them persevering with to be phenomenal physicians
is so particular. I can’t wait to see them in particular person and have a good time one another and what
we’ve achieved.”