Conan Milner interviews Dr. Patricia Muehsam MD

Mention the word health care and most people think of the symbols of the conventional health care system: things like doctors, hospitals and prescription drugs. But health care is much more than the mechanizations of modern medicine. Innovations in pharmaceutical technology, vaccination programs, and surgical technique have certainly changed the look and strategy of health care in the modern age. But consider that most of what protects and improves our health, such as the undeniable virtues of diet and exercise, has held strong since antiquity. Dr. Patricia Muehsam MD. is a physician acupuncturist, educator, and research scientist who has spent her entire career trying to bridge the gap between the sometimes narrow mindset of modern health care and the expansive and perennial ideas of mind body medicine. To that end, she founded the Association of American Medical Colleges’ first initiative in alternative and complementary Medicine, which has helped leading medical schools approach these ideas in a more favorable light. Muehsam’s new book, Beyond Medicine, offers a window into the world of alternative health care, and reveals that much of it is backed by research to demonstrate its effectiveness. But even more importantly, Muehsam discusses that the way we live our lives through our relationships, our sense of purpose, and our capacity for peace of mind, are the most powerful healing tools we have at our disposal.