The Lifestyle medicine is the application of simple, natural healing approaches to chronic disease care and prevention.  Today’s standard medical school curriculum rarely includes education about exercise, nutrition, sleep and physical activity.  Given the current epidemic of disease related to sedentary behavior, it is imperative to train future providers to understand the relationship between lifestyle and health.

The MLM prepares all health care professionals to: - Prevent, treat and reverse chronic disease through lifestyle choices. - Use LM practice, tools and resources to facilitate behavior change interventions. - Apply LM evidence-based literature to help patients and their families manage and sustain behavior change. - Evaluate patient’s outcomes to improve effectiveness of patient care using LM. - Care for patients through collaboration with inter-professional team.

Physicians who practice lifestyle medicine must also live healthily themselves. A doctor can offer greatest help to patients when he or she knows what it’s like to make nutritious food choices, stay physically active, prioritize rest and life balance, and consistently pursue healthful relationships and support systems. Patients are more likely to follow the advice of a physician who leads by example.