How this DO blends functional medicine with osteopathic medicine for whole-person health

For Laura Robin, DO, osteopathic medicine wasn’t just a career choice; it was a calling. As a second-generation DO, she grew up watching her physician father build lifelong, compassionate connections with patients. Seeing these heartfelt relationships cultivated by her father inspired Dr. Robin to follow in his footsteps.

With a profound belief in the “human” side of medicine, Dr. Robin embarked on her own osteopathic journey. She treated patients for many years, taking an approach that was deeply rooted in osteopathic principles, holistic healing and genuine connection. Now, she is focused on teaching clinicians how to incorporate functional medicine into their practices.

Following is an edited Q&A with Dr. Robin.

Tell us about the path that led you to osteopathic medicine.

I’m a second-generation DO. My dad graduated from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) in 1951, so I just always knew I was going to be a doctor. It wasn’t even a question, because I really loved watching my dad. He was a physician in the same office for 40 years, delivering babies and their babies. I loved the relationship he had with his patients; it was very human and heartfelt, and I knew that was a big part of what helps people heal.

Another thing that interested me in osteopathic medicine was that when I met DOs, they seemed really human. My understanding of osteopathic medicine was that it was very much a “people” profession.

You have practiced lifestyle medicine and preventive medicine for over 25 years now. What led you to becoming board certified in integrative and functional medicine?

I completed an internship with the Indian Health Service in Kayenta, Arizona, on a Navajo reservation. When I started my internship, the residents were beginning to see the effects of their lifestyle changes. They were becoming more sedentary and had access to a large grocery store as well as fast food and alcohol. This was a huge change from their traditional cultural lifestyle. The lifestyle changes were leading to out-of-control rates of diabetes, obesity and heart disease.

Later, I went to Baltimore for a preventive medicine and public health medicine residency at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. I became interested in functional medicine and moved to Oregon, where I opened a practice specializing in integrative and functional medicine.

Can you tell us about your time as an epidemic intelligence officer for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)?

I signed up for the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) and worked with the CDC for two years. Originally, I thought I wanted to go into epidemiology. I worked in Alaska at the state health department. My job was to do a couple of studies, and these studies showed that everybody is different, and we can’t take a “one size fits all” approach to treatment. Through my work there, I realized that everybody is different, and that I wanted to work in prevention.

In what ways do osteopathic medicine and integrative and functional medicine share similar beliefs and values?

The basic principles of functional medicine are identical to the basic principles of osteopathic medicine, in that the body is treated as a whole, and everything affects everything else.

The body has the innate ability and desire to heal itself, if given the proper tools. We are each responsible for taking care of our own body and making sure that all systems are free to work as they need to. A significant part of taking care of your body is being mindful of what you eat. Food is medicine.

What some people don’t realize is that there is a significant evidence base that supports functional medicine and integrative medicine. There are studies on how the gut affects neurotransmitters. Serotonin is made in and around the gut, and most of our immune system is located in and around the gut. Gut health is directly related to the amount of inflammation that happens in our bodies. What functional medicine does is find the root causes of illness.

You have a program called the Functional Medicine Project. Tell us a little about how this was formed, and what the program is all about.

I’m now retired from clinical practice, but I decided that I wanted to spend the rest of my career educating and mentoring. So now I educate and mentor clinicians, and I educate and mentor consumers.

For clinicians, I created the Functional Medicine Project. This project is an immersion course made up of 24 modules. It used to be a 12-week course meeting twice a week, but now it’s a 24-module course. What I have learned is that if any conventional doctor wants to use functional medicine in their practice, there are 10 basic things that they need to learn. Once they learn those things, they can help about 80 to 85% of their patients through functional medicine. The course shows clinicians how to get up and running in functional medicine in their own practice.

Can you share an example of how preventive medicine has changed the lives of your patients?

I would hear stories of people who turned around their fatigue and their brain fog. I had a 56-year-old accountant who came in and said, “I either need to heal my brain fog or I need to retire early. I love accounting, but I can’t hold on to things anymore. I can’t compute my head anymore, and I’m not effective.” Four months later, she not only was happy with her brain function being back, but she took on a second job. Her brain fog just went away.

I’ve had numerous people who are getting ready to have knee or hip replacements who, as soon as they decrease the inflammation in their bodies, no longer needed replacements. And that’s what I’m all about: teaching people so that they can be empowered to make their own choices about their bodies, and they can oversee their bodies.

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