If there’s one thing the world needs to fix the health crisis, it’s a more preventive approach to healthcare. Yet most doctors are trained to treat specific symptoms and lack the time, resources, and energy to take a lifestyle-based approach to the whole person. When 2013 graduate Jennifer Weinberg, MD, MPH, MBE wanted to provide her patients with better care, she took matters into her own hands – and became a Health Coach.

Dr. Weinberg is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and completed her residency in preventive medicine at Johns Hopkins. Combining her own passion for yoga, meditation, and reiki with her medical training, Dr. Weinberg enrolled at Integrative Nutrition and now has a thriving practice as a preventive and lifestyle medicine physician. She is also a published author, having just released her first book through IIN’s Launch Your Dream Book Course!

Dr. Weinberg is taking over our Instagram account today – check it out to see what she’s up to! Read more below to learn about her refreshing approach to medicine and how she’s inspiring other healthcare professionals to provide better patient care.

On adopting a holistic approach to medicine: I strove to find a way to combine my scientific training with my passion for holistic healing. I completed my residency training in preventive medicine at Johns Hopkins to further my medical training in this vein. This allowed me to complete my Masters in Public Health with an aim of protecting, promoting and maintaining wellbeing while preventing disability and suffering.

I also integrated techniques from my yoga training into visits and saw amazing transformations. I saw the power that simple techniques and stress management could have and was excited to further my abilities to really address the whole person with lifestyle-based approaches instead of simply focusing on isolated symptoms.

On enrolling at the Health Coach Training Program: I was searching for an approach that recognized the complexity of the whole person and the ways in which her Primary Foods nourish her in addition to the food on her plate. I desired more knowledge in how to work with patients around lifestyle and coach them to set and reach wellness and lifestyle goals. And that is exactly what IIN taught!

On her current coaching practice: I am working in a way I truly believe in! I combine my expertise as a preventive and lifestyle medicine physician, yoga instructor, and Health Coach to work with individual, group and corporate clients. I use approaches to maintain balance, energy and optimal health through simple, enjoyable nourishment, nutrigenomics, physical activity and lifestyle changes.

I have also used my training and experience in healthcare management along with the philosophy and techniques I learned at IIN to craft powerful holistic approaches to corporate wellness and occupational health programs and to support and guide other health care practitioners looking to embrace this transformational approach.

On her favorite part of the curriculum: Integrating concepts such as primary food, bio-individuality, and motivational interviewing into a holistic approach allows me to help clients recognize their bodies’ natural patterns and rhythms and support them in effectively creating a non-toxic, balanced lifestyle. Viewing wellness this way is a great step towards living a life of abundance, filled with optimal energy and balance!  Symptoms are often the result of the body trying to rebalance itself instead of targets to cover up.

On publishing her first book: My most recent project, and one that is very special and meaningful to me, is The Whole Cure: 52 Essential Prescriptions to Overcome Overwhelm, Reclaim Balance and Reconnect with a Life You Love! Through IIN's Launch Your Dream Book Course, I was supported and guided to write and publish my book and get out my message about holistic stress management and resiliency! With the confidence and knowledge I gained through IIN, I also seek to expand awareness and appreciation of this type of holistic lifestyle-focused approach through work with individual, group and corporate clients as well as by guiding other health care professionals to embrace transformational concepts!

On educating other physicians: I find it very rewarding to work with other health care providers and coaches to support them in exploring a holistic approach to wellness and health care that spans philosophies, traditions and boundaries of traditional categorizations. This includes educating physicians about the power of incorporating health coaching and working with Health Coaches to support them in addressing lifestyle-based factors in their practices and personal lives while teaching innovative strategies for incorporating stress management, nutrigenomics and transforming the way health is addressed! It is amazing to find a true path to healing and to be a part of a vibrant and innovative community like the one I have found at IIN!

Connect with Jennifer

On her website

On Facebook

On Twitter

On Instagram

On YouTube