From The Inside Out

New ideas and thoughts, Change, “Out of the Box” thinking; all things not easily accepted and often times ridiculed by conventional thinkers.  Combining old and new ways to discover a better way is challenging for those bold enough to venture outside of the conventional box of status quo and uncomfortable to those who like maintaining a “comfort” zone.  Then again, we all understand that progress in any field only occurs with someone willing to venture forward with new innovations.  As they say, “Those who stick their heads above the crowd are often likely to get hit by the flying tomatoes!”

The Center for Integration in Cosmetic Surgery and Rejuvenation Medicine (also known as “CICSRM” or simply the “Center for Integration”), brainchild of Philadelphia-trained Dr. Leonard  Rubinstein, strives to provide a newer more comprehensive and integrative health care approach to each and every patient irrespective of limitations placed by conventional medical insurance reimbursement policies; its goal has been from its inception and continues to be to provide healthy age management for optimal wellness. Born out of over 25 years of integrative medical care provided by a professional team comprising of allopathic, osteopathic, homeopathic and oriental medical expertise, the Center for Integration has taken a holistic approach to medical practice and continues to integrate the wisdom of the East with the science of the West in the care of its patients.

This highly integrative approach is unique to the practice of medicine found today as the typical insurance-limited medical practice proves itself repeatedly to fall short of caring for the fundamental issues underlying disease and, too often, finds itself chasing patient symptoms with “band-aiding pharmaceuticals”. The Center incorporates many essential ingredients from the fields of Nutrition & Wellness, Allergy & Immunology, Herbal Medicine, Applied Kinesiology and Energetic Medicine. Aspects of Oriental, Homeopathic, and Ayurvedic Medicine are included in the care of patients to complement its traditional conventional (Allopathic) foundation. 

Doctors and staff alike are encouraged on a continual basis to seek out the latest advancements in medicine, continually researching new studies published in the world’s literature and attending medical conferences.  “Educating patients is a huge role of anyone involved in healthcare and, is even more essential when treating patients from a comprehensive and holistic perspective,” states Dr. Leonard A. Rubinstein, the Center’s Founder and its Medical Director for the past 25 years.  “Unfortunately, doctors and patients don’t know what they don’t know and so patients need to depend on learning what there is to know from their treating doctors.”  He adds, “The problem lies in the reluctance of conventionally-trained doctors to become sufficiently educated in complementary medical topics. The result is that patients are not fully educated in all of the necessary options and benefits of complementary medical treatment which results in the patient being treated only from a conventional approach and deprives them from gaining full access to many needed and potentially beneficial complementary procedures.”      

As insurance companies too often fail to cover the expenses related to complementary medicine or preventative medicine, the insurance-based medical practices are reluctant to discuss or even refer the patient for any of these potentially beneficial services.  Furthermore, conventionally-trained physicians are not taught complementary medical therapies and so they frequently discredit their potential benefit.  “Ask the typical traditional conventional doctor to honestly discuss topics like Nutrition, Ayurvedic Medicine, Herbal therapies, Oriental Medicine or Homeopathy and you’ll quickly see a puzzled look on the doctor’s face.  To make matters worst, too often the doctor will tell the patient that ‘there’s nothing in the medical literature to support these alternative medical practices’ when, in fact, there isn’t a doctor who could honestly admit that they have read all of the world’s medical literature already published in their spoken language, let alone written in all of the other languages of the world where advances in medicine are being published every minute of every day,” explains Dr. Rubinstein.  “Remember, doctors don’t know what they don’t know and ego prevents many from admitting it!” 

The Center’s policy has been not limiting its offerings to “insurance-controlled” healthcare options, which, too often fail to cover essential preventative techniques and general wellness. Thus, it is able to provide comprehensive alternative and preventative medical care with an emphasis on wellness rather than relying solely on the treatment of health problems once they occur. To merely treat the symptoms without addressing the underlying cause of the problem is like placing a “band-aid” on the symptoms of the disease without ridding the patient of the problem itself. 

Thorough evaluations of personal and business lifestyle and life’s stresses, past and present medical conditions, in-depth laboratory evaluation, are only the beginning of the road to finding the source of many medical conditions.  A typical office visit at the Center lasts approximately two hours, unlike the typical 8-10 minute doctor’s office visit so often seen in our healthcare environment today.  With insurance companies chopping away at physician reimbursement each year, the insurance-based medical practice must schedule more and more patients in a day; more and more vital issues affecting the individual patient may often get overlooked.  If a patient wants comprehensive care in today’s healthcare market, they must be prepared to invest financially in their personal care and that of their family and not rely solely on the whims of their insurance coverage. This can be a really big challenge for people today. 

Dr. Rubinstein was recently invited to speak before the National Hispanic Medical Association’s Annual Congress in Washington, DC, and was involved in strategic discussions on this healthcare dilemma with government representatives from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to evaluate ways that the present Healthcare Reform Bill may be utilized to cover more of these needed preventative complementary medical techniques.  

Providing all patients with the availability of a wide variety of integrative treatments, complementary services, holistic programs and patient education tools to prevent disease and heal “from the inside out” is the heart and mission of the Center and is a welcomed rarity in today’s healthcare system.  Through its holistic and integrative approach to treating patients and preventing age-related chronic disease, the Center for Integration has helped thousands of patients find the source of their medical concerns and assisted them in allowing the natural resources of the body to help heal itself.

To reserve a seat at one of the Center’s upcoming free educational seminars or to schedule your complimentary initial office visit with a staff member, call 941-957-FACE (3223) or log on to www.SarasotaCS.com