allows you to:
Integrative Medicine Consults
An integrative medicine consultation is a time for exploration of your primary concerns and an in-depth review of your whole health history. During the consultation, you and your physician will develop a customized health and wellness plan to best fulfill your health needs. Your physician may recommend further investigations into your symptoms and suggest therapies that combine complementary and conventional Western approaches. Your ongoing care will be coordinated through informal and formal case discussions among the center’s team of practitioners.
- Patients new to complementary medicine seeking guidance
- Patients with complicated medical problems interested in reducing medications, avoiding side-effects or supplementing care
- Patients who have not achieved full relief of symptoms with conventional medicine
- Patients seeking a preventative, holistic approach to health
Your First Visit
The initial consultation, which generally lasts 60 minutes, is a time for exploration of your primary concerns, and an in-depth review of your whole health history with a physician fellowship-trained in Integrative Medicine. During this visit, you and your physician begin to outline how you can best work together to fulfill your health needs. Together you will begin to develop a customized health and wellness plan. Your doctor may also spend time after the visit to research your particular concerns and collaborate with the Center for Integrative Medicine team of practitioners. The physician may recommend further investigations (labs, functional testing, genomics or imaging) into your symptoms, and will recommend therapies that combine complementary and conventional Western approaches.
Common Reasons to Seek an Integrative Medicine Consult
- Chronic pain
- Fibromyalgia
- Chronic fatigue
- Hormone related issues, including an interest in Bio-identical Hormones
- Gastrointestinal problems such as irritable or inflammatory bowel
- Cardiovascular disease, hypertension
- Recurrent infections
- Sleep disturbances and insomnia
- Anxiety or depression
- An interest in preventing hereditary conditions
- A desire for a holistic approach
What to Bring to Your Initial Visit
- A completed Personal and Family History Form (Please download and complete before your visit or plan on arriving 30 minutes early to complete)
- Pertinent past medical records and diagnostic test results
- All your medications and supplements in the original bottles, (If possible, we appreciate a typed list of these items)
- Your questions, concerns and goals for your visit
- A support person is always welcome (if you wish)
Follow-up Integrative Medicine Visits
When instituting lifestyle changes, having regular follow-up visits support success. These appointments allow for discussion of patient experiences in trying new therapies or lifestyle changes and exploration of mind-body techniques, nutrition and personal issues. Your doctor will help determine the appropriate timing for your return visit. Follow-up visits are generally thirty minutes in length.
Dr. Ring’s services are consultative only and do not include primary care. As such, all patients are asked to have a primary care or similar physician to provide for their ongoing healthcare needs. Dr. Ring may assist you in locating a primary care provider if you do not already have one. We are happy to provide documentation of your visit with us to your primary care provider in order to facilitate consistency and collaboration in your care.
Contact
Center for Integrative Medicine and Wellness 312-926-DOCS (3627)