A recent edition of the monthly Chapter Leader newsletter from the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) had some interesting information I thought was worth passing along.
This particular newsletter contained guidelines for finding a quality healthcare provider for yourself and your family – a very timely topic for those who actively seek to implement health goals.
Certainly, the healthcare provider you choose has a tremendous influence and impact on whether or not those goals come to fruition.
I’ve blogged before on how to determine if your dentist is truly holistic but have not tackled how to pick a doctor or other healthcare provider. Picking the right practitioner is a very important decision as the wrong person guiding your medical choices has the ability to upend all the good you are doing sourcing and preparing nutrient dense foods for your family with bad advice, toxic therapies or discouragement of your efforts in the home.
The importance of finding a healthcare provider that is as closely aligned with your dietary and medical philosophy as possible cannot be overstated!
The guidelines provided by the Weston A. Price Foundation were so pithy and spot-on that I thought I would share them with all of you. A big thank you to Lisa, WAPF Chapter Leader of Eugene, Oregon for crafting the wording of these guidelines.
For a list of practitioners who make the “Best” or “Good” categories where you live, contact your local WAPF Chapter Leader for his/her resources list.
Is Your Healthcare Provider “Best”, “Good” or “Avoid”?
Below are the categories with which to classify your healthcare provider. What to do if yours falls under the “Avoid” category but you need to keep seeing this doctor due to health insurance reasons?
In that case, go to that doctor only for routine tests, checkups etc, but go to a doctor in the “Best” or “Good” categories for interpretation of these results only if necessary. Â Also, make a mental note that whatever a doctor in the “Avoid” category may say to you should be taken with a grain of salt as this information is not based from a traditional dietary or holistic healing perspective.
Best:
Healthcare provider who is knowledgeable about and uses Weston A. Price dietary principles in his/her practice, and who is also highly skilled and effective at working with the body’s natural healing abilities.
Good:
Healthcare provider who does not use traditional dietary principles in his/her practice, but is nevertheless effective at working with the body’s natural healing abilities, and supportive of your dietary and lifestyle choices.
Avoid:
Healthcare provider who pushes low-fat diets, USDA food pyramid, reduced-sodium diets, mercury fillings, root canals, flouride, routine antibiotics, or toxic drugs and treatments, and those who argue with or belittle their patients over their personal dietary or lifestyle choices. Â
If you have a great practitioner that fits in the “Best” or “Good” categories, please post name, location and phone number if you are comfortable with that to share with other readers who live in the same area.
Do you have additional criteria for determining who is worthy of your medical trust or websites that list quality holistic healthcare providers? Â Please share your tips in the comments section.
It is so reassuring to have a doctor who sees you as a whole person and doesn’t prescribe drugs for every single thing you come to him with. We’ve been blessed with a holistic family doc that takes our insurance. Granted it is rare we actually end up there, but he is a phone call away and always knows exactly what the issue is, it’s amazing. He will always try a gazillion natural remedies before resorting to any drugs, even then he will never prescribe something to take regularly, only short term until the root cause is addressed. It’s a long drive, so we only go when absolutely necessary. (not sharing his info because he isn’t taking any more patients any time soon)
Good: Dr. Warren Ross in Columbia, Maryland (Crossroads Medical Center).
This is all good Sarah, but it would be even better if WAPF would begin a list of doctors who are open to WAPF principles or are at least not totally opposed to them. Maybe WAPF could begin one? I have an NP who listens, but still is freaked about my “elevated” cholesterol and is a bit stuck on the old low fat diets. She’s slowly coming around, but I’d love to find an MD in my area that is WAPF friendly. I have no idea how to find one. Help!
I’ve reached out to a few of my local chapters just to get connected a s involved and basically got no response. kind of disheartening.
been looking for a doctor in the Philadelphia area if anyone has any knowledge of one.
While living in SE Wisconsin, we went to Dr. Michael White in Germantown. He is a Family Practice dr. He is definitely a “good” doctor, and was covered by our insurance – BCBS. He didn’t push vaccines and actually advised against some. He thought it was wonderful that my kids drink keifer and take Cod Liver Oil. He never once suggested antibiotics for treatment. He also advised against a procedure for my son that two other pediatricians insisted I do. He saved my son a lot of pain and us a lot of money.
We are in the process of moving to Ann Arbor, MI, and would love a referral to a good or best doctor there. Thanks!
There is a James Neuenschanwder (734 995 3200) may be a surgeon but was recommended to me.
There is an internist who leans holistic and naturopathic. His name is Edward Linkner and is highly recommended. I no longer live in Ann Arbor or I would have gone to him. I am unsure about insurance.
Edward Linkner MD
2345 S Huron Parkway
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734 973 1010
There are many options in Ann Arbor, as there is a very diverse population there due to the University. Right next door is Ypsilanti which also has Eastern Michigan University. You will however also find many doctors that just do what they were trained to do in medschool, all the traditional modern methods.
Dr John Ness Tallahassee Fl
For those who live in the West Central Florida area, our local WAPF yahoo board has a list of “Best” and “Good” practitioners to view or print out:
Happy 4th of July everyone!
GCan someone please tell me how to get rid of the pop.up adds that have suddenly started popping up on this and other blogs in the last couple of weeks? I am not very smart phone sauvy. They are popping up right over the content I am trying to read and it is extremely annoying. Thanks for any help anyone can give me. I figure I will need to disable something but darned if I can figure out what. Thanks again
Yes, they are highly annoying .. I am trying to get rid of them on this blog! I am actually going to upgrade my wordpress theme soon which should hopefully solve this problem for good!
Los Angeles: Dr. Feder. http://www.drfeder.com. Specializes in primary care medicine, pediatrics and homeopathy. Best category. Follows WAP.
We see Dr. Feder also and like her a lot.
Anyone know of a ‘best’ doctor in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area? Please post 🙂