As an interdisciplinary learning community we can truly bridge the gaps between all our specialty silos. We continue to learn to speak each each other’s language, see each other’s perspectives and consider the impact of our clinical decisions on the whole body. Why? Because…. collaboration cures!
We have created trusted co-referral relationships, where many of our patients feel cared for among a network of thoughtful health professionals. Just as we do for one another, we are also willing to slow down to listen to patients, include their thoughts and opinions in their own care, and help them take the driver’s seat in their own hea
We have created trusted co-referral relationships, where many of our patients feel cared for among a network of thoughtful health professionals. Just as we do for one another, we are also willing to slow down to listen to patients, include their thoughts and opinions in their own care, and help them take the driver’s seat in their own health journey. Our ultimate goal is to help our patients to develop a health-span that lasts their whole lifespan.
We have spent months (to a year or so) on each of these subjects (And enjoyed every minute of
it):
- Facilitating health change behavior and impacting lifestyle improvements
- Cardiovascular health
- Sleep and Airway health from infancy to geriatric
- Nutrition and supplementation
- Rheumatology: arthritis, Ehlers Danlos syndrome, chronic joint inflammat
We have spent months (to a year or so) on each of these subjects (And enjoyed every minute of
it):
- Facilitating health change behavior and impacting lifestyle improvements
- Cardiovascular health
- Sleep and Airway health from infancy to geriatric
- Nutrition and supplementation
- Rheumatology: arthritis, Ehlers Danlos syndrome, chronic joint inflammation and more
- Osteopathic manipulation medicine and OMM vs. chiropractic medicine
- Oral Health including the most prevalent periodontal disease, and caries disease
- Cognitive decline, dementia and Alzheimer’s
- Gut health: microbiome disfunction from the mouth to the anus and how to help
From the founder, Dr. Susan Maples:
I founded Wellness & Prevention Study Club in 2014 year. But for years before that I had been asking all my patients if they truly felt cared for and known by their doctors. Most said, “Not really”. They mostly felt invisible. It a culture where the average face-to-face time with our health professionals is seven minutes, a visit to your doc can feel rushed and impersonal. Furthermore, We end up with a pill for each ill—a myriad of meds that all have side effects and toxic ramifications.
But a few of my patients raved about their docs. And when I asked WHY they felt so cared for,
they often replied that they felt “heard” or “understood” or “loved” by their docs. Whenever I
heard that, I promptly hand-wrote a letter of gratitude to their provider for being “that kind of
whole person” and simply thanked them for being in our healthcare community. What I
learned was that it was impossible to refer to these special docs because, as you would guess,
they were in FULL demand.
After a couple years of seeing the same docs pop up on my most esteemed list I started to
realize that these people who slowed down, were also interested in root cause analysis. They
wanted truly wanted to help their patients get well (or stay well), and for a lifetime. So, I got
this zany idea and trusted my gut. I invited this collection of special people to a dinner and
issued an invitation. I gave them a long list of subjects that we might tackle together, from our
multiple and diverse perspectives. Within a week of that meeting 100% of them opted in! And
so it began.
I invited the study club to my home for dinner. (True confession, I love to cook.). My table only
seats 11 so although there are 20+ health professionals in WAPSC, the table is full by a first-
cone-first-serve reservation. I love that the study club stays small enough to be intimate. That
way, even if we invite a guest speaker, we all get to participate in a robust and interesting
dialogue. BTW, many times our invited guest speakers have become regular members of our
study club. And so it grows…as it goes.