Rooted In Medicine

A Rooted Approach to Modern Medicine: The Vision Forward

My emerging and chronically iterating philosophy of medicine is a rising structural entity rooted between ancient healing wisdom and modern scientific insight. It is layered with root cause immunometabolomic thinking and built upon anthropological foundations. As a pediatrician, educator, and onion peeling thinker, I believe that a medical approach grounded in compassion, prevention, and the pursuit of root causes is the way forward. Medicine is not just about treating disease but about reshaping the very terrain in which illness arises. This can and must start with our women and children.

At the heart of this vision is a belief in the power of systems biology and our deep interconnectedness. The human body cannot be understood or healed through isolated parts or siloed provider experiences. We must move beyond symptom suppression and toward an understanding of the why behind disease. Why does a child struggle with allergies, ADHD, or autoimmune illness? What factors in the environment, diet, stress response, or microbial ecosystem have altered their trajectory? Why are the governmental and NGO leaders not guiding us towards a benevolent goal of whole child health? These are the questions that shape and guide our practice.



A provider’s daily work should be rooted in deep listening. In an idyllic world, parents are not rushed through a 15-minute appointment. Instead, they are invited into a conversation, about nutrition, genetics, school stress, home exposures, and sleep hygiene. Medical care is a partnership, a dance: the physician brings science and discernment; the family brings lived experience and intuition. Healing, in this model, is a shared path. And it must be. The past many decades have proven the futility of the old ways: pharmacotherapeutic symptom suppression with limited to no upstream root change or collaboration.

It is vital that we continue to be vocal about the role that industrial food, environmental toxins, and cultural overstimulation play in the modern rise of chronic disease. We must challenge the conventional medical system that too often fails to reckon with the unintended consequences of convenience and technology on our maternal and children’s attention, metabolism, and immunity. 



What we need is an intentional future, one where we reclaim what is timeless: whole nourishing food; deep, restorative rest; clean, fulfilling air; energizing movement, and connected love. This future must be coupled to an educational system that is accountable, thoughtful, and oriented toward truth and critical thinking. 

This view of medicine, indeed, of life, is deeply intertwined with my lived experience. I believe health is not the absence of symptoms, but the presence of resilience. I prefer to teach that a thriving child is one who can adapt, biologically and emotionally, to stress. That resilience, I argue, begins in the womb and is shaped by every choice thereafter: breastfeeding, antibiotics, sleep, screen time, etc... My goal is not perfection, never, but awareness, always. With awareness, families can make informed decisions in a noisy, chaotic world.

My decision all those years ago to start the SPA Newsletter and now the podcast was intentional. It was a free, democratic way to amplify this philosophy beyond the exam room. I want to continue to bring on guests from molecular biology to public health, weaving together diverse disciplines into a cohesive story: how can we build health from the inside out for mothers and their children. Whether we are speaking on the microbiome, mitochondria, or mindfulness, the throughline is clear, our choices matter, and small, consistent shifts can redirect a child’s entire health journey.

In a world of fragmented care, this philosophy of medicine is whole. It is science-backed, heart-led, and rooted in the sacred responsibility of caring for the next generation. This work reminds me that the most profound medicine is often found not in the prescription pad, but in the everyday rhythms of a well-lived life.

I have awoken every day for 26 years without feeling that I have worked a single day since finishing residency. I am grateful to God for this gift and the blessings that continue to unfold on this path. For the women and the children, let us keep being advocating for the emergence of medicine 3.0, as Dr. Attia calls it. 



Life is to be well lived. 

Dr. M