In recent years, an interesting theme has been surfacing more and more in conversations within functional medicine. At conferences and gatherings of clinicians, researchers are talking about factors that influence health far beyond biochemistry and lab results. Two that come up often are joy and isolation- how connection, community, and emotional well-being shape our physiology just as much as diet, sleep, and nutrients. But I’ve been thinking about another factor that may be just as...

After years of educating nurses and nurse practitioners in functional medicine—and listening to the feedback of over 1,000 students who have been through my programs—I can confidently say this: choosing the right  training program makes all the difference. There are a lot of programs out there claiming to teach root-cause care. Some offer short courses. Some promise board certifications. Some look flashy on the surface but leave nurses confused about how to actually apply what they’ve...

When I was first diving into the world of functional medicine, I did what a lot of us do. I looked for protocols in the courses I took. I wanted something structured. Something safe. A set of steps I could follow with confidence and consistency. Something that would work for every patient. I was a primary care provider at the time, and I’d see people struggling with fatigue, gut issues, or hormonal imbalances and immediately think, What’s the functional medicine protocol for that? I even boug