YOUR AD HERE »

Local doctor among first to receive certification

Annick Pruett
Community Relations Director
Grand River Health

The American Board of Lifestyle Medicine (ABLM) announced today that Grand River Health’s Dr. Pamela McGrogan is among the 204 physicians and 43 PhD/Masters-level health clinicians who have become the first medical professionals globally to be certified as Diplomates of the ABLM/American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) and the International Board of Lifestyle Medicine. The exam was given Oct. 26 in Tucson, Arizona, following the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s Lifestyle Medicine 2017 conference.

Lifestyle Medicine, defined by the ACLM, is the use of evidence-based lifestyle therapeutic approaches, such as a predominantly whole food, plant-based diet, physical activity, adequate sleep, stress management, tobacco cessation, and other non-drug modalities, to prevent, treat, and, oftentimes, reverse chronic disease.

As a result of this global pioneering effort, Lifestyle Medicine Global Alliance sister organizations in Europe, Asia, Oceania and Latin America are scheduled to host Lifestyle Medicine certifications in their respective countries and regions, using the identical exam, proctoring, and pass rates, resulting in standardization of the field on a world-wide basis.



“Gone are the days of diagnosing the ill, prescribing the pill and sending the bill, which has worked so well in combating communicable disease, but is hopelessly inadequate in the fight against chronic disease,” said ABLM Executive Director Stephan Herzog. “Nourishment, movement, resilience and social connectedness will become the focal point of physicians in addressing the underlying causes of chronic disease, with increasing numbers of medical schools starting to train their students in the principles of lifestyle medicine.”

“Driven primarily by large, self-insured employers, the requirement for healthcare providers to employ and deploy lifestyle medicine-certified physicians and health professionals will increase rapidly, as the reduction in medical utilization costs on a per-person per-annum basis is becoming increasingly evident when Lifestyle Medicine is used across the treatment spectrum,” Herzog continued.



ACLM President George Guthrie, MD, MPH, FACLM added, “For the patient, having health care providers not only look at the symptoms, but also at the underlying cause of disease, will help them take charge of their health and prevent, arrest and reverse chronic disease, thus returning years to their life and life to their years.”

About the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine: The ABLM was formed in November, 2015, in Nashville, Tennessee, by a group of visionary physicians who saw the need to: educate physicians and allied health professionals about Lifestyle Medicine; set a common standard/language for Lifestyle Medicine protocols globally; differentiate between evidence-based Lifestyle Medicine professionals and non-evidence based Lifestyle Medicine practitioners; set a global Lifestyle Medicine benchmark; and attract health insurance funding for evidence-based Lifestyle Medicine by requiring that any fund receivers be formally certified. Learn more at https://ablm.co/about/.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Glenwood Springs and Garfield County make the Post Independent’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.