Embracing Whole-Person Health

by Marel Ver, MD

To heal is to restore a person to health. For decades, healthcare has focused on treating disease after it appears. Prescriptions, procedures, and hospital care all matter, but they are not the full picture.

Unfortunately, over the past several years, the art of healing has dimmed in many doctor-patient interactions. Multiple factors, including generational shifts in social interactions and norms, administrative burdens, and insurance reimbursements, contribute to visit time limitations and the overall patient experience.

The American College of Lifestyle Medicine reports that an estimated 60% of Americans, including far too many children, live with at least one chronic disease.

Although many conditions are treatable, annual healthcare costs are nearly $4.5 trillion. 62% of physicians reported experiencing burnout while providing care in the current healthcare environment.

Physicians are frustrated that they cannot provide the optimal care that their patients deserve. Patients are frustrated that they are not fully cared for.

Fortunately, the field of medicine continues to evolve. Multiple specializations, including integrative medicine, preventative medicine, and complementary and alternative medicine, have been developed over the years.

The specializations of Obesity Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine are now recognized with official board certification. Many PCPs and specialists are seeking this additional training to expand their knowledge and skills to provide better care for their patients. The focus is on “whole-person wellness.”

Obesity is a common, chronic disease that costs the healthcare system $173 billion a year. The CDC reports that in the US, 1 in 5 children and 2 in 5 adults are obese.

Obesity Medicine focuses on delivering patient-centered medical care to treat obesity, which will improve overall health. It combats weight-related diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, and sleep apnea.

The four evidence-based pillars of obesity treatment are nutritional therapy, physical activity, behavioral modification, and medical intervention.

Current PMAH president Dennis Bautista, MD, DABOM, is a family practice physician who obtained board certification in obesity medicine.

He states that having this additional training has helped transform his practice and teaching strategies into a more patient-centric one.

For instance, when presenting his patient to his colleagues and students, his patient is no longer “a 60-year-old obese, hypertensive, diabetic male” but rather “Mr.P is a 60-year-old male with obesity, hypertension, and diabetes.”

The conversation shifts to seeing the patient as a whole person with a disease, rather than defining a person by the disease. Dr. Bautista shares that now he is more open and comfortable discussing unhealthy weights with his patients without stigma. Counseling and specific dietary and exercise prescriptions are provided as additional treatment for medical conditions.

My other colleague, PMAH Foundation mentor Leimomi Kanagusuku, MD, DipACLM, is a family practice physician with a board certification in lifestyle medicine.

Lifestyle Medicine focuses on preventing, treating, and sometimes reversing chronic disease through everyday habits. The goal is not perfection. The goal is progress that can be sustained over a lifetime.

Lifestyle modification is the first-line intervention in most clinical guidelines for chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease. There are six pillars of lifestyle medicine: optimal nutrition, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, social connection, and risky substance avoidance.

Although there are still time constraints during doctor visits, Dr. Kanagusuku makes an effort to counsel her patients on at least one of these pillars to improve lifestyle, which helps address other medical issues.

She mentions that taking this approach has helped patients realize the importance of other aspects of their own overall health.

Lifestyle medicine is not only in doctors’ offices; it also spans the full continuum of care, from prehospital and emergency room settings to inpatient and acute care settings.

PMAH Foundation mentor Cecily Wang, MD, DipACLM, is a surgeon and an ICU doctor.

In the ICU, she works with the ICU staff to support patients’ restorative sleep despite alarms and interruptions, encourages early and safe mobility, implements nutrition early, and emphasizes how important connection and support from family and friends are for survival and healing.

The doctor-patient relationship is sacred, but should also be a collaborative one. We as physicians should not just treat our patients, but also guide and motivate them to be better for themselves.

Doctors are doctoring, and patients are healing. I challenge our readers with a gentle, doctor-approved task list for healthier living:

– Schedule your annual check-up and blood tests with your PCP. You would not skip an oil change for your car. Do not skip your own health maintenance.

– Schedule recommended screenings, such as mammograms and colonoscopies. Early detection saves lives and provides opportunities for a cancer cure.

– Talk with your family about an Advance Care Plan. This is an act of love.

– Set one small goal per week. Big goals are ambitious, small goals are realistic. Drink one more cup of water. Walk five more minutes. Reach out to someone you miss.

– Do something purposeful weekly, if not daily! Clear expired food from the fridge. Donate clothes you no longer wear. Those balikbayan boxes can finally be filled.

– Practice gratitude and do something that makes you happy weekly, if not daily!

A small thought on happiness: happiness is personal. It is a different definition for everyone and is often determined by life stage. For some, it means adventure and travel. For others, it means breathing comfortably, sleeping well, or having the energy to play with grandchildren.

What matters is doing something regularly that brings fulfillment, no matter how small. A good friend told me, “I do the ‘have to’s’ so I am able to do the ‘want to’s’.” I completely agree with this statement.

Every new year invites reflection. For me, 2025 was humbling. It brought challenges that forced me to slow down and reassess what truly matters.

As a physician, a mother, a friend, and a member of the Filipino community, I came to a simple but powerful realization: I needed to take care of myself.

Caring for myself as a whole is not selfish. It is necessary. It is how I stay present and healthy for my patients, my family, and my community.

Physicians are lifelong learners who study and learn the science of medicine.

As a bariatric weight-loss surgeon and an advocate for Lifestyle and Obesity Medicine, I believe we are returning to the art of medicine and the deeper meaning of healing.

The focus is shifting back to the individual, not just the illness. New models of care and a new generation of providers are helping to bring heart and human connection back into healthcare.

To my fellow physicians, let us recommit to seeing the whole patient.

To our community, let us define health not only as the absence of disease, but as the presence of joy, movement, connection, and peace. Let’s not ask “How long will I live?” but rather, “How well will I live?”

Embrace life to invest in yourself, not only to live longer, but to live well, grateful, and happy.

I would like to thank my colleagues above and the Higa and Malalis families for their contributions to this article.

Marel Ver, MD, is a general surgeon practicing on Oahu and the current co-president of PMAH.