My name is Dr. Bordenave and I am a third generation physician, following in the footsteps of my father and grandfather, who was the only town doctor for miles around.
After graduation from medical school, I did my internal medicine residency training at St. Barnabas in New York and West Suburban Medical Center in Chicago. I then completed a clinical, invasive and nuclear cardiology fellowship at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach.
Upon completing my training, I opened my private practice in Miami where I treat patients of all socio-economic class, from celebrities who are in town, to patients who have no insurance, which I continue to treat routinely.
During these times, I have witnessed the practice of medicine change from a respected profession to a business, where patients often are treated like just another body, heading down a predetermined assembly line.
The quality of healthcare has deteriorated and we doctors have become automated robots ordering tests and pushing increasing numbers of prescribed medications.
What is missing is the physician as counselor and as a friend, who knew each patients as an individual person. There had to be another, better way to provide health care, and this lead me to Integrative Medicine.
Integrative Medicine is a medical specialty, that unlike Cardiology did not limit itself to a particular body part or organ system, but rather a specialty dedicated to treating the whole being, taking into account the physical being, the mental state and spiritual development of each patient, as each of these components influences the health and wellbeing of each person.
So I made time to attend my third medical residency, this time in Integrative Medicine at the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, the pioneering academic Institute in Integrative Medicine, founded and directed by Dr. Andre Weil.
During these studies I was reminded of the importance of treating each patient as a unique individual with unique and individual needs, and not like just another person who has a disease.
I learned a wide range of complementary medical practices that are used throughout the world, but that are not taught in U.S. medical schools.
Lessons and practices that include such basic things as the role of nutrition and diet as a cause of and treatment of disease, meditation and relaxation, energy medicine, acupuncture, tai chi, chi-gong, botanicals and many other teachings. These are currently used in conjunction with modern, evidence based, accepted medical treatments.
The most important lesson Integrative Medicine has taught me was to just listen to each patient tell their story. In this simple act, of the doctor listening without interruption, rush or judgment, healing begins.
It is a simple, yet a basic lesson that I share with medical students and residents who I mentor and teach.
These are lessons that remind us of why we decided to enter the medical profession in the first place. It also gives us the knowledge and tools to teach patients how to prevent illness and improve health and wellbeing, as well as help to improve the quality of life of those with serious illness, taking into account and including the physical and spiritual needs of each individual, as well as their mental and emotional state.