Since the earliest days of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Institute for Functional Medicine has taken a lead in the effort to compile, evaluate and disseminate practical information on nutritional and botanical interventions for immune system resilience, risk mitigation, and recovery from infection.
Headed by Patrick Hanaway, MD, IFM’s COVID-19 Task Force has also been helping clinicians make sense of the various testing methods, the mechanisms by which the virus enters and destroys human tissues, and the non-viral risk factors that increase susceptibility.
With its new course entitled, Resistance, Resilience, and Recovery: Patient Care in a Pandemic, IFM has aggregated the key learnings and best practices into a series of concise interconnected 15-minute lectures.
This first of its kind course totals 6 hours of online content, delivered by 18 of IFM’s expert faculty members. The presentations “will explore clinical principles to reduce patient vulnerability to developing severe infection during the COVID-19 pandemic, increase resistance to infection, improve resilience to the more injurious consequences of infection, and optimize recovery from infection and its long-term consequences.”
Among the topics covered are:
· Lab testing – where and when
· Vulnerability from a systems biology perspective
· Lifestyle factors and the impact of implicit bias
· Viral mechanisms of action
· Mechanisms of action of pharmaceuticals, botanicals, and nutraceuticals
· Addressing the post-infectious phase: a comprehensive approach
· Case studies and group visit model
· Novel tools to use with patients
Presenters include: Robert Luby, Joel Evans, Helen Messier, Deanna Minich, Yousef Elyaman, Kara Fitzgerald, Gary Goldman, and others.
“Functional medicine is especially well suited to support patients during the pandemic with its systems biology approach and commitment to individualized care across the healthspan,” IFM states.
The course is set up for on-demand streaming, and registrants will have access for a full year. It also includes periodic research updates, clinical pearls, and additional webinars as new information emerges and best practices evolve.
