Integrative Medical Care in San Francisco

Integrative Medicine and Functional Medicine
Offer the Very Best of All Available Options

We define integrative medicine as healing-oriented medicine that takes account of the whole person (body, mind, and spirit), including all aspects of lifestyle. It emphasizes the therapeutic relationship and makes use of all appropriate therapies, both conventional and complementary.

Functional medicine is a related discipline that uses a focused methodology to find the root causes of illness, taking a systems approach, often adding advanced diagnostic testing to our thorough history, physical exam, and conventional tests.

Integrative Medical Wheel
Copyright @2000, William Coollinge, PhD.

Our Physician

Image
Paul Abramson MD

Paul Abramson MD is a primary care and integrative medicine physician who trained under Dr. Andrew Weil at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine in Tucson. He sees integrative medicine not as a separate specialty, but something that he infuses into every aspect of medical practice - a deep commitment to helping his patients heal and achieve optimal outcomes, with whatever tools are appropriate and helpful, whether from conventional or alternative systems.

Dr. Abramson works closely with other types of practitioners, if needed, to assemble the right team for your particular situation. We work with on-site experts and a network of top specialists in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, Psychotherapy and Behavioral Medicine, Medical Nutrition Therapy, Manual Medicine and other disciplines.

In addition to his work with Dr. Weil, Dr. Abramson completed advanced training in functional medicine through the Institute for Functional Medicine, adding to his existing repertoire of diagnostic and therapeutic tools.

CHECK OUT OUR CLINICAL TEAM

What is Integrative Medicine?

  • Patient and practitioner are partners in the healing process.
  • All factors that influence health, wellness, and disease are taken into consideration, including mind, spirit, and community, as well as the body.
  • Appropriate use of both conventional and alternative methods facilitates the body’s innate healing response.
  • Effective interventions that are natural and less invasive should be used whenever possible.
  • Integrative medicine neither rejects conventional medicine nor accepts alternative therapies uncritically.
  • Good medicine is based in good science. It is inquiry-driven and open to new paradigms.
  • Alongside the concept of treatment, the broader concepts of health promotion and the prevention of illness are paramount.
  • Practitioners of integrative medicine should exemplify its principles and commit themselves to self-exploration and self-development.
  • Modalities that can be integrated include conventional medications and procedures, nutritional therapies and dietary supplements, Traditional Chinese Medicine, manual medicine, mind-body approcahes, psychotherapy, self-tracking and data driven treatment, and others.
  • We choose the best combination of appoaches with you after a comprehensive evaluation.

Integrative Medicine Consultation: What to Expect

In addition to being highly trained in conventional medicine (including hospital medicine and intensive care), our doctors practice and refer to the right combination of complementary therapies, if needed:

  • Comprehensive history and physical examination
  • Review of available records and information
  • Collaborative development of an initial diagnostic and treatment plan
  • Integration of appropriate modalities to complement conventional approaches
  • Tracking of results
  • Follow up to adjust the plan and monitor progress over time

We also work with a network of the very best conventional specialists, both in San Francisco and around the world, to provide you the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment approaches to your individual condition

Benefits from Our Approach

Tailored Integrative Healthcare

You get the very best medical care, tailored to you as a unique individual;

Conventional & Alternative Modalities

We apply the most appropriate modalities, typically a combination of conventional and alternative, based on a comprehensive evaluation of your condition;

Gentle Approach

We take the least forceful and most gentle approach that is appropriate to achieve desired results;

External network of professionals

We help you identify and coordinate other practitioners and specialists, as appropriate;

Our collaborative effort

You typically take an active role in your care– we work together collaboratively to remove impediments to the healing process;

Ethics and Transparency

We are meticulous about our ethics and transparency so that you can feel confident that we are offering you the best possible options, without conflicts of interest.