Ottawa Functional Medicine Vs Integrative Medicine: What Is The Difference?
Are you curious about the difference between Ottawa functional vs integrative medicine?
If so, you are in the right place.
Today I am going to talk about Ottawa functional medicine vs integrative medicine.
More importantly.
By the end of this article, you should be able to decide which approach is right for you.
Let’s jump straight in and compare the different philosophies of functional and integrative medicine.
1. Philosophies
Functional medicine as defined by the Institute of Functional Medicine is,
“a personalized, systems-oriented model that empowers patients and practitioners to achieve the highest expression of health by working in collaboration to address the underlying causes of disease.”
In other words, functional medicine looks to identify problem systems in the body and empowers the patient to resolve those problems.
Integrative Medicine as defined by the Weil Institute is,
“healing-oriented medicine that takes account of the whole person, including all aspects of lifestyle. It emphasizes the therapeutic relationship between practitioner and patient, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapies.”
In other words, integrative medicine emphasizes a holistic science-based approach through a collaboration between the patient and practitioner.
From a philosophical standpoint, functional medicine vs integrative medicine is very similar.
Let’s see if this similarity continues by looking at how they treat patients in practice.
2. Ottawa Functional Medicine Vs Integrative Medicine: How Do They Treat Patients?
Functional practitioners strive to find the most natural way to treat their clients.
In Functional medicine, there is a strong emphasis on food and nutrition as medicine.
At the same time, just like integrative medicine, their approach is science-based.
Integrative medicine practitioners use a combination of medical and alternative treatment modalities to treat clients.
In integrative medicine, there is some emphasis on nutrition but practitioners also use specific complementary therapies.
Examples of these complementary therapies used by Ottawa integrative medicine practitioners include Chelation therapy and IV therapy.
In integrative medicine, there is more emphasis on the practitioner giving a treatment to the patient.
3. What Do They Treat?
Both Functional and Integrative medicine treats a wide variety of conditions.
The differences are seen between individual practitioners.
Some Ottawa Functional medicine practitioners specialise in Alzheimers Disease. While other functional practitioners have a more general practice.
On the other hand, Dr. Richard Nahas, an Integrative medicine doctor specialises in chronic pain.
4. Education
Most Ottawa Functional medicine practitioners have a non-medical training background. Some have training in Osteopathy while others have education in Naturopthic Medicine or Chiropractic.
In contrast, the majority of Integrative medicine practitioners in Ottawa are medically trained doctors.
5. Are They Covered On Insurance or OHIP?
Functional medicine services are not covered under either insurance or OHIP. The one exception is if you have a health spending account type insurance plan.
Some integrative medical services are covered under OHIP. You will usually need a referral from your family doctor.
Did I Miss Anything?
Are you drawn towards Functional medicine or Integrative medicine?
Are you still confused between functional medicine vs integrative medicine?
Either let me know by leaving a comment below.
