The American Board of Lifestyle Medicine recently announced Dr. Robert Baker and Michelle Michael are among the 204 physicians and 43 PhD/Master’s-level health clinicians who have become the first medical professionals globally to be certified as diplomates of the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine/American College of Lifestyle Medicine and the International Board of Lifestyle Medicine.
Baker is a family physician with Schneck Primary Care. He completed his medical degree at Indiana University School of Medicine and his residency at East Carolina University School of Medicine.
Michael is a certified physician assistant with WellLife by Schneck. She obtained her degree from the University of Saint Francis, where she specialized in family medicine.
Lifestyle medicine is the use of evidence-based lifestyle therapeutic approaches, such as a predominantly whole food, plant-based diet, physical activity, adequate sleep, stress management, tobacco cessation and other nondrug modalities, to prevent, treat and oftentimes reverse chronic disease.
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“I’ve always been interested in getting my patients to improve their health by increasing physical activity, making better food choices and making positive changes in their social environment,” Baker said. “I have seen how much you can reverse chronic disease by changing your daily lifestyle habits, and this motivated me to learn more through this certification program.”
Michael said it’s common for many patients to see a health care provider for primarily sick care, but the goal at Schneck is to change this way of thinking and offer a resource to help individuals become healthier or maintain good health.
“We are here to support patients in making those healthy changes,” she said.
Dr. Eric Fish, vice president of medical affairs and chief medical officer at Schneck Medical Center, said the Seymour hospital is at the forefront of lifestyle medicine, focusing not only on the treatment of chronic illnesses but on prevention and even reversal of otherwise life-threatening medical conditions.