Each new year, resolutions abound, with many people taking a renewed interest in their health and wellness – like losing weight or finding ways to overcome chronic pain.
A team of physicians in UTMB’s Department of Family Medicine is equipped to support patients in achieving these goals and more, looking at health through a holistic lens that goes beyond conventional medicine.
“What we do is approach patient care from an integrative style focused on the whole picture, recognizing that patients come in with expectations and desires of what they are hoping to get when they see somebody. We then try to help them achieve those goals without always resorting to a pill,” says Samuel Mathis, MD.
Dr. Mathis is part of the five-physician team in Family Medicine focused on integrative medicine, incorporating nutrition, exercise, diet, mind-body medicine, acupuncture, herbs, and supplements to help patients live healthier lives.
The team is built around the department’s Integrative and Behavioral Health Fellowship. Dr. Mathis and Dr. Sagar Kamprath are both graduates of the fellowship program and are dual board-certified in Family Medicine and Integrative Medicine.
Each physician has a specific focus, with Dr. Mathis’s being acupuncture and supplements. Dr. Victor Sierpina, who is widely revered for his work in integrative medicine, also provides acupuncture, an in-demand service for pain relief.
“Acupuncture is a wonderful avenue to open up for these patients another way to help treat their pain without medications,” Dr. Mathis says. “It provides a service for patients who oftentimes don’t want to have surgery or be on narcotics. They’re just trying to find something that helps with their pain.”
Many of the patients Dr. Mathis sees for acupuncture find him through word-of-mouth referrals, but referrals can be placed through Epic as well. Many of Dr. Mathis’s referrals come from specialties such as Orthopedics, Neurology, or Pain Management.
Dr. Kamprath has a focus on diet and nutrition, leading the effort to develop the Island Farmacy, a community garden located at the Family Medicine Island West Clinic on Stewart Road. Not only do patients benefit from the nutritious food grown there, they have opportunities to participate in gardening activities alongside UTMB faculty, staff, and students.
The other physicians on the team are Dr. Juliet McKee, whose primary interest is women’s health, and Dr. Kyu K. Jana, who focuses on geriatrics.
Dr. Mathis says the team is available to provide integrative medicine consults, supporting primary care physicians or specialists who see opportunities for their patients to benefit from a holistic approach.
There is also an Epic referral available for general integrative medicine or even integrative oncology consults to specifically support cancer patients.
“You can send your patient to us to talk about these supplements and alternative therapies. If you’re not aware of them or you aren’t comfortable talking about them, we can do all that for you and then we will send the patient back to you with those recommendations,” he says.
Most members of the integrative medicine team see patients at the UTMB Family Medicine Island West Clinic on Stewart Road in Galveston. Dr. Jana sees patients at the UTMB Family Medicine Clinic in Dickinson. Dr. Mathis sees patients at the Primary Care Pavilion on Harborside.
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