Most people have never been to a functional medicine doctor before, so these visits are often a new experience for many. These appointments are so comprehensive that our providers need enough time to prepare for each person’s initial visit, so we require that all patients submit the requested paperwork a week prior to their appointment so that the provider has sufficient time to review it.

Again, the first functional medicine visit is typically very comprehensive and focuses on understanding the patient’s health history, lifestyle, environment, life stressors, and underlying factors that may be contributing to their current health issues. These appointments generally last between 1–2 hours, depending on how long it takes to review all of the necessary factors for the individual.

Here’s what patients can generally expect:

A Detailed Health History:
You will be asked about your current symptoms, past medical history, family history, lifestyle factors, stressors, and more. Functional medicine practitioners often spend more time on this aspect compared to conventional medicine, and most of our patients comment on how comprehensive this truly is—people often tell us things like, “no doctor has ever spent this much time with me before.”

Lifestyle Assessment:
Expect questions about your diet, exercise routine, sleep patterns, stress levels, bowel movements (yes, we talk about poop!), and other lifestyle factors. Functional medicine takes a holistic approach and looks at how these factors may be influencing your health. We also talk about what you have already tried, and whether those things were successful or not.

In-Depth Discussion:
You will engage in a detailed discussion about your symptoms as our providers work to get to the root cause of your health concerns. We may explore many factors such as genetics, diet, environment, lifestyle, stress, and more.

Physical Examination:
A physical examination may be conducted to assess your overall health. This could include standard measurements like blood pressure, heart rate, and body mass index, as well as more specialized assessments based on your specific health concerns.

Functional Testing:
Functional medicine often involves specialized testing to assess various aspects of your health, such as hormone levels, nutrient deficiencies, food sensitivities, gut health, and much more. Sometimes these are blood labs, finger sticks, urine samples, stool samples, etc. We don’t complete all of these tests on every person but rather let their symptoms and history guide us to the right testing.

These tests can provide additional insights into the underlying causes of your symptoms and also give a yardstick so we have something other than just symptom improvement/resolution to measure our progress.

Conventional Lab Testing:
We often use conventional lab testing as well (think CBC, comprehensive metabolic panel, A1c, fasting glucose, fasting insulin, Vitamin D levels, cholesterol panels, thyroid markers, etc.). The difference is that conventional medicine typically uses reference ranges based on the average values found in a large, supposedly “healthy” population. These ranges are designed to identify outliers or extreme values that may indicate pathology (i.e., disease).

Functional medicine, however, uses narrower, more optimal ranges based on the concept of ideal health rather than just the absence of disease. By identifying trends before pathology develops, we can implement true preventive care.

Functional Lab Ranges:
As mentioned, we tend to use functional lab ranges that aim to identify imbalances or deviations from the optimal range that may contribute to symptoms or indicate potential future health issues.

Personalized Treatment Plan:
Everything we do in our office is based on individualized care—nothing comes from protocols or canned treatment plans. Treatment plans are developed from the information gathered throughout the appointment as well as the results of functional testing. Providers will work with you to develop a personalized plan, which may include dietary recommendations, lifestyle changes, supplements, and more depending on your specific needs.

Education:
Our providers want patients to understand the “why” behind each recommendation, as people often adhere to the plan better when they understand the reasoning. You may receive information about nutrition, stress management, environmental toxicants, and other lifestyle factors in maintaining or restoring health.

Follow-Up Plan:
Functional medicine can be an ongoing process for some. Often, patients have seen many different providers or specialists without resolution. Our providers will likely discuss a follow-up plan, which may include regular check-ins, additional testing, and adjustments to your treatment plan based on progress.

Collaborative Approach:
Functional medicine often involves collaboration between the provider and the patient. You may be encouraged to take an active role in your health, implementing lifestyle changes and adhering to the treatment plan—some of which may be temporary, while others may become a new way of life.