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Our guest, Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Scott Mann is a former U.S. Army Green Beret, and he now shares his skills and experience as a storyteller, speaker, actor, playwright and leadership trainer. During this podcast episode, he joined Kristen Brokaw, our host for the Business of Functional Medicine quarterly series, to discuss the importance of emotional recovery and human connection for clinicians so they can combat burnout and build trust with patients.

Scott Mann's experience in the Special Forces, where relationships were crucial to his survival, has shaped his approach to leadership and communication. He now helps business, nonprofit and corporate leaders develop interpersonal influence skills to bridge trust gaps and engage with others effectively. He also highlights the power of storytelling in healing and fostering connections.

Scott encourages practitioners to share their own stories and ask thoughtful, open-ended questions to build trust and understanding with patients and peers.

Check out this episode to learn more about the following:

·       Scott Mann’s Pre-Engagement Preparation (PEP) technique (demo video) 

• What the world should learn from acting and storytelling practices
• High performers and mental health issues, and why clinicians must protect their well-being
• Storytelling heals and is a sense-making tool
• Why narrative competence may be the most important soft skill for clinicians to foster  
• And much, much more!

In this podcast episode, James Maskell speaks with Swathi Rao, PA-C. She is the owner of Be Well Family Care in Indianapolis, and she was featured in James’ book, The Community Cure, to showcase her successful implementation of group visits.

We explored the clinical applications of vitamin K2, which range from musculoskeletal and immune health to aesthetics and longevity. Swathi also shared how her knowledge on vitamin K2 nutrient therapy has developed throughout her career, how to identify patients who may benefit from vitamin K2 therapy and the benefits of combining vitamin K2 with vitamin D, including dosing recommendations.

Swathi emphasized the importance of patient education to enable informed decision-making when it comes to controversial health topics like vitamin K2 supplementation. She also provided insights on building a successful practice and the role of non-MD professionals in healthcare.

Please download and listen to learn more about:

•       The forms of vitamin K and which are most beneficial
•       When it is appropriate to recommend this nutrient
•       Swathi’s experience with local Functional Forum meetups
•      Vitamin K2 uses for aesthetics and longevity
•       And much, much more!

Related resources:

•      Episode with Dr. Leon Schurgers on vitamin K
•      Be Well Family Care
•     Dr. Robin Berzin on the Functional Forum

Our podcast guest, Michael Mabry, DO, works in a fully capitated medical group in Johnson City, Tennessee. Capitation is a fee-per-patient model, which tends to promote health by incentivizing preventative medicine, chronic disease reversal and helping patients maintain their health. 

Implementing group medical visits has allowed Dr. Mabry’s practice to improve patient outcomes and increase the local community’s access to lifestyle medicine. In his group visits, patients who have similar medical issues come together once a month for a two-hour visit to learn relevant health information.

Dr. Mabry also shared that he can spend more time with patients individually because he has systemized patient education. Part of the success of the group visits, according to Dr. Mabry, comes from the much-needed sense of community experienced by participants.

Early in his career, he learned about how to build and scale his practice through some of the first Functional Forum events and the Group Visit Toolkits from Lifestyle Matrix Resource Center.

When you listen to this episode, you’ll also learn about the following:

• How to connect your business needs with your passion for lifestyle medicine to evolve health care
• The benefits of capitation as a business model
• How you can foster connections with your local community to build your business
• Practical alternatives for dysfunctional payment models in the health care industry
• And much more!