The Clinic » Integrative Assessment » Integrative Assessment
An integrative assessment provides a more complete picture of the symptoms you have, how they affect your body, your mind and your life as a whole - and may help identify the root causes of your illness. A conventional history and physical examination generally focus on your current problem, what diseases you already have and what medications you may be taking.
The first thing that we do is go into more detail about your present symptoms. It is important to fully understand what you feel - when, how, where and why. Although this is supposed to be basic medicine, we take the time to go into much more detail than any medical history you have had before. This process can also be very therapeutic, as many of our patients feel that their concerns are being heard for the first time.
Another aspect of the evaluation involves a detailed inventory of your past and present situation to identify all the potential reasons for your illness. This is not part of conventional medicine because many of these underlying causes are never considered or taught in medical school. They include old injuries, chronic infections, hidden allergies, toxic overload, emotional traumas, poor nutrition, physical stresses and digestive and immune problems.
Finally, we always ask about the place where your illness meets your life. How your illness has affected you and your loved ones, your professional and personal life, are important to us. Not only do they help us understand what you are going through - but it sometimes affects the treatment we choose.
Our integrative assessment draws on a large body of knowledge gathered from many disciplines and traditons. We combine the knowledge and tools of conventional, homeopathic and naturopathic medicine, Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine, environmental medicine and mind-body medicine. Each of these disciplines offers a unique perspective that is important for understanding the causes of disease and the best way to return to health.
Some of our patients have raised questions and concerns about how we bill for our services. Because our approach is unusual and new to most people, we feel it is important to be clear about what we do and why. A portion of your visit is billed to the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP). This is because we will review the tests, treatments, specialist visits and other issues related to your conventional medical diagnosis and treatment.
We bill you directly for the rest of what we do. This includes Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) therapies, but more importantly relates to our search for potential causes - including toxic overload, hormone imbalances and biochemical problems - that are not recognized by conventional medicine. In the past, doctors have been fined or penalized for asking OHIP to pay for such 'unconventional' practices.
Our decision to take this approach was based on the need to avoid the legal and political problems that other doctors have faced. Our total hourly fee for your medical evaluation is very similar to published guidelines for Ontario physicians.
The assessment helps to identify the most likely causes of your illness and how it affects your life. In some cases, the assessment may point to further testing that needs to be done. After sharing our understanding of what factors may be causing or contributing to your illness, we will recommend specific therapies that target these factors. Some therapies may target symptoms, others may target causes. Some are administered by you, some take place at the Seekers Centre, and others are provided by our growing network of trusted partners in healing.