Evolution of Medicine Podcast

The Blueprint for Functional Medicine in Big Health Systems

What does it actually take to build a functional medicine program that thrives inside a conventional health system? In this live episode from the Institute for Functional Medicine Annual Conference, James Maskell sits down with Laura Sandquist and Kate Otremba, who've spent six years building a large integrative and functional medicine program within Allina Health, a conventional health system in Minnesota. Laura and Kate share the infrastructure they built to make it work — smart phrases, practice guidelines, and templates that help clinicians translate their functional medicine training...

The Bioage Reversal Breakthrough

Evolution of Medicine Podcast

What if the best way to live a long life isn't a longevity hack — but preventing chronic illness in the first place? In this live episode from the Institute for Functional Medicine Annual Conference, James Maskell sits down with Dr. Kara Fitzgerald, a naturopathic physician and longtime functional medicine researcher, to talk about her groundbreaking work on reversing biological age. Dr. Fitzgerald shares the story behind her 2018 clinical study, which found that a diet and lifestyle intervention reversed biological age by over three years — a result that stunned the field, since even...

Why Whole Health Starts With This One Question

Evolution of Medicine Podcast

What does it really mean to practice "whole health" — and how do we keep it from becoming just another buzzword? In this live episode from the Institute for Functional Medicine Annual Conference, James Maskell sits down with Dr. Tracy Gaudet to unpack the evolution of whole health, the growing risk of paradigm "veneers" masking real transformation, and why the patient-practitioner relationship remains central to any lasting healing. Tracy explains how true system change begins with a different kind of conversation — one that starts with a person's purpose and meaning rather than their...

Inside the Growth of Functional Medicine

Evolution of Medicine Podcast

How is functional medicine evolving from a niche practice into a global movement that is transforming healthcare? In this live episode from the Institute for Functional Medicine Annual Conference, James Maskell sits down with Amy R. Mack, MSES, MPA, CEO of the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM), to discuss the organization's mission, the rapid growth of functional medicine, and its future in healthcare. Amy shares how her background in nonprofit leadership—and the influence of her father, a gastroenterologist who practiced whole-person care long before it became mainstream—shaped her...

How Functional Medicine Is Reshaping Healthcare

Evolution of Medicine Podcast

How can functional medicine create healthier communities while transforming the future of healthcare? In this live episode from the Institute for Functional Medicine Annual Conference, James Maskell sits down with Gail C. Christopher, DN, IFM Board Chair of The Institute for Functional Medicine, and Executive Director of the National Collaborative for Health Equity, to discuss the evolution of functional medicine and its growing influence on mainstream healthcare. Drawing on decades of experience in clinical practice, public policy, philanthropy, and health equity, Dr. Christopher explains how...

Frontier Care in Warfarer Populations

Evolution of Medicine Podcast

How can functional medicine improve the health, resilience, and performance of military personnel? In this live episode from the Institute for Functional Medicine Annual Conference, James Maskell sits down with Dr. Bryan Stepanenko and former Green Beret Geoff Dardia to discuss how functional medicine is transforming healthcare for warfighters and veterans. They explain the unique physical and psychological demands of military service, including blast exposure, traumatic brain injuries, chronic sleep deprivation, toxin exposure, and repetitive physical stress. Rather than simply treating...

Using CGM in Care Delivery

Evolution of Medicine Podcast

In this live episode of The Evolution of Medicine Podcast, James Maskell speaks with Dr. Ryan Arnold at the Institute for Functional Medicine Annual Conference about how continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), metabolic health, and functional medicine are transforming preventive healthcare. Dr. Arnold explains how his practice uses the Dexcom Stelo Continuous Glucose Monitor to help patients understand their individual glucose responses, allowing them to make personalized nutrition and lifestyle changes before chronic disease develops. He discusses how real-time glucose data provides far...

IFM Conference Recap – AI and Consciousness in Medicine

Evolution of Medicine Podcast

What happens when artificial intelligence meets consciousness in medicine? In this live episode from the Institute for Functional Medicine Annual Conference, James Maskell speaks with psychiatrist Dr. Robert Hedaya about the transformative—and potentially dangerous—role of AI in modern healthcare. Dr. Hedaya shares how analyzing a Parkinson's patient's brain imaging using multiple AI systems led him to a breakthrough insight: AI models can correct each other when used in dialogue, reducing hallucinations and improving clinical reasoning. But he warns that AI is not truth-seeking—it is...

An Ecological View of Your Body

Evolution of Medicine Podcast

What if the future of medicine is not just about data—but about ecology? In this live episode of The Evolution of Medicine Podcast recorded at the Institute for Functional Medicine Annual Conference, James Maskell speaks with Patricia Devers, Chief Clinical Officer at Genova Diagnostics, about the evolution of functional medicine into a systems-based, ecological model of care. Patricia Devers shares her journey from conventional internal medicine to functional medicine leadership, explaining why she left hospital practice after 20 years due to a lack of meaningful patient improvement. She...

Inflammation, Heart Disease and the Cleveland Clinic

Evolution of Medicine Podcast

What if the future of cardiology requires looking far beyond cholesterol numbers? In this live Evolution of Medicine Podcast episode from the Institute for Functional Medicine Annual Conference, James Maskell speaks with Dr. James Carter about the changing landscape of cardiovascular care and the growing role of functional medicine within major healthcare institutions. Drawing on his experience as an interventional cardiologist and leader of Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Functional Medicine, Dr. Carter explains why inflammation may be a more important driver of heart disease than many...

More Episodes

What does it actually take to build a functional medicine program that thrives inside a conventional health system?

In this live episode from the Institute for Functional Medicine Annual Conference, James Maskell sits down with Laura Sandquist and Kate Otremba, who've spent six years building a large integrative and functional medicine program within Allina Health, a conventional health system in Minnesota.

Laura and Kate share the infrastructure they built to make it work — smart phrases, practice guidelines, and templates that help clinicians translate their functional medicine training into daily practice within the constraints of RVU requirements and insurance billing. They discuss how they addressed access issues through nutritionist-led and practitioner/nutritionist co-led group medical visits, and how a two-day CME training for primary care providers and specialists helped build trust and drive more referrals and holistic thinking across the system.

The conversation also covers their new venture, Whole Health NP, launched to help other practitioners bridge the gap between learning functional medicine and actually applying it — and why this whole-health approach extends well beyond integrative nursing to physical therapists, psychologists, and beyond.

Whether you're a clinician, health system leader, or someone building functional medicine programs of your own, this episode offers a grounded, practical look at what it really takes to make whole health work at scale.

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About the Guest:

Laura Sandquist, DNP, APRN, A-GNP-C, FMCP-M and Kate Otremba, DNP, MN, APRN, CNP, FMCP-M are co-developers of a large integrative and functional medicine program within Allina Health, a conventional health system in Minnesota, where they have worked together for six years. Their work includes building clinical infrastructure such as smart phrases and practice guidelines, launching nutritionist-led and co-led group medical visits, and developing a two-day CME training for primary care providers and specialists to build trust and collaboration across the system. They have since launched Whole Health NP, a company dedicated to teaching practitioners how to translate functional medicine training into real-world practice.

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