Why Aren’t There More Functional Docs Out There?
Why Aren’t There More Doctors Practicing Functional & Integrative Medicine?
Patients ask me this all the time.
“If this makes so much sense… why doesn’t every doctor do it?”
It’s a fair question.
The answer is not simple.
Let me walk you through the timeline.
The Traditional Path Is Long — and Expensive
To become a physician, you start with:
4 years of undergraduate education
(Optional) 1–2 years of a master’s degree
4 years of medical school
3–7 years of residency (longer for surgical specialties)
By the time you are “done,” you are typically in your early 30s with a minimum of $200,000 in student loan debt — often much more.
You are tired.
You are financially stretched.
You are ready to earn.
And there is no class in medical school titled:
“How to Build a Business.”
“How to Lead a Team.”
“How to Create a Healing Culture.”
“How to Think Outside the System.”
It is presumed you will work for a hospital or large medical corporation. That you will plug into the machine.
Most small private practices eventually sell out to larger systems because the pressure — administrative, regulatory, financial — becomes too great.
The System Rewards Speed, Not Depth
In the traditional model, physicians are expected to:
See 20–30 patients per day
Follow guidelines
Prescribe within protocol
Stay on schedule
The model is not built for two-hour conversations about root cause.
It is built for efficiency.
A pill for an ill.
And for many physicians, that is enough. It provides stability, a predictable salary, and a defined lane.
There is nothing inherently wrong with that path.
But it is not the path of deep root-cause medicine.
Choosing Functional Medicine Is Choosing More School — After You’re Already Done
By the time I began formal training in integrative and functional medicine, I was already:
Board certified in Family Medicine
Board certified in Wound Care
Board certified in Hyperbaric Medicine
I had already done the “hard thing.”
Then I started over.
Medical Acupuncture
A physician-only program that took 1–2 years, with multiple in-person trainings in San Francisco.
Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM)
Multiple 5-day in-person modules, required reading, case studies, and board examination.
Integrative Medicine Fellowship
A 2-year fellowship through the University of Arizona, followed by another board exam.
A4M Certification
Completed during a 3-hour daily commute while working full-time. Every spare minute — before work, after work, weekends. Finished in about six months and later became a board examiner.
Shoemaker Certification
One of the most rigorous processes I’ve experienced. Constant reading, evolving standards, emotional intensity, high expectations.
And that is just scratching the surface.
Most mornings, I am either in training or deep in research.
Because the learning never stops.
The Risk No One Talks About
Then comes the scariest part.
You leave the hospital system.
You leave the salary.
You still have loans.
And you open your own clinic without anyone teaching you how to:
Run payroll
Manage personalities
Hire wisely
Build systems
Scale ethically
Survive the first year
Medical school does not teach you how to be a “boss.”
It teaches you how to survive.
Entrepreneurship is something you learn in real time — sometimes painfully.
Why Most Doctors Don’t Take This Path
If a physician:
Has no personal experience with chronic illness
Has not watched someone they love suffer
Is not naturally wired for curiosity
Does not enjoy research as a hobby
There is very little incentive to leave the safety of the system.
The traditional path offers:
Stability
Predictable income
Clear structure
Less personal risk
Functional medicine offers:
Uncertainty
Extra years of training
Out-of-pocket patient models
Business risk
Emotional intensity
It requires obsession.
And not everyone wants that.
Medicine Is My Hobby
This may sound strange, but medicine rabbit holes are my hobby.
Today, for example:
I spent three hours in hyperbaric oxygen therapy listening to two advanced trainings — one on peptides, one on cardiovascular risk modulation.
Afterward:
A brisk walk in the sunshine
Twenty minutes in the sauna
A shower
IV phosphatidylcholine for nerve and vascular support
Two more hours of studying
This is not punishment.
This is curiosity.
This is longevity.
This is chasing rainbows and unicorns.
Root Cause Medicine Is Not Convenient
To truly heal, we need:
Time
Investigation
Systems thinking
Pattern recognition
Patience
The conventional model does not allow for that depth.
So physicians who want to go deep must build something different.
And building something different is uncomfortable.
It requires risk tolerance.
It requires humility.
It requires lifelong learning.
It requires an appetite for complexity.
The Doctors Who Do This Work
The physicians who walk this path are often:
Personally affected by chronic illness
Deeply curious
Slightly rebellious
Comfortable outside the box
Willing to be misunderstood
Willing to work harder than required
Not because we have to.
Because we want to.
Why It Matters
There may not be many doctors practicing true functional and integrative medicine.
But the ones who do are usually all in.
Not because it’s trendy.
Not because it’s easier.
Not because it pays more.
But because root cause matters.
And healing is worth chasing.
Even if it means stepping away from safety.
Even if it means extra years of study.
Even if it means building something from scratch.
And me?
I will probably never stop.
Because I don’t just practice medicine.
I live it.
And I believe longevity, vitality, and whole-person healing are worth the long road.