“Working in the NHS is hard, but because of Lifestyle Medicine, I’m not going anywhere” Dr Sheena Fraser, GP & Trainer
Life for the average GP is depressing just now; the chronic lack of funding is taking its toll. GPs are managing more patients than ever before. A recent BMA survey reported 71% of GP’s found their work “very” or “extremely” stressful (1). The same survey found one third of my colleagues are “burning out” whilst trying to meet the rising workload.
And Patients are getting sicker, suffering from more chronic diseases and cancers than ever before, fuelled by unhealthy diets and lifestyles, they don’t get better with allopathic medical practices, doctors like me are blamed publicly for not meeting their needs.
My colleagues are leaving the NHS in droves to seek private work. A 2024 RCGP survey revealed that 42% of GP’s were unlikely to be working in the profession in 5 years’ time and according to a BBC survey around half of hospital consultants are doing private work.
Yes, it’s hard, but I’m not leaving, I love my work and the people I work with. In 2018 – I found LIFESTYLE MEDICINE!
In 2018 I attended my first BSLM conference, it ignited a fire in me that had been suppressed in my early GP career. That fire drove me to complete the IBLM Certificate in Lifestyle Medicine in 2020 and fuelled my fascination with lifestyle medicine and my curiosity with microbiome science.
In 2020 BSLM offered me the opportunity to contribute to their learning academy in this particular area of interest. Dr Siobhan McCormack (Shiv) and I were united in the task of creating one of the first BSLM courses.
We soon became best friends celebrating our obsession with all thing’s human microbiome. With weekly support from the amazing BSLM team the course took shape and after 2 years we published “the fundamentals of gut microbiome science”. Probably my proudest academic achievement to date.
Not satisfied with our success, Shiv and I swiftly proposed a podcast on Microbiomes to BSLM. Once again, BSLM stepped up to offer us the support that we needed, supplying us with an editor and publisher – and BSLM’s wonderful internal marketing team to promote it.
We released our first Microbiome Medics podcast in Dec 2022 and have since released monthly episodes on all things Microbiome. The podcast has given us the opportunity to reach out to the best microbiome scientists around the world fulfilling our need to be up to date with the science and further igniting our passion. Microbiome medics podcast is now in the top 10% of medical podcasts and is growing listeners every month.
My GP work has changed too; every day I offer my patients a lifestyle approach to managing and often reversing their chronic diseases and ailments; to my delight most of them opt in. My patients have been amazing, many of them making drastic changes in their lifestyle to turn their health around, even those making small changes are reaping benefits like fewer infections, more energy, improved mobility and mood or improved HBA1C, cholesterol and blood pressure.
Word has spread, my patients are no longer surprised that they get lifestyle advise alongside or often in place of allopathic medicine. Even my colleagues and trainees have joined in with this strategy. Our prescribing data shows us to be consistently low prescribers of most drugs especially antibiotics, analgesics and drugs of abuse. We have a manageable workload with less demand than my neighbouring practices are reporting.
6 weeks ago, I commenced lifestyle medicine group consultations for the Scottish government “prevention of cardiovascular disease program”. They have been a huge hit, gaining us many 5* reviews on google and enthusing our patients more. Group consults are a joy to run; they allow me to spend 2 hours with patients coaching them through lifestyle change strategies. It’s inspiring to see patients take a real interest in improving their lifestyle for real health gains.
Lifestyle medicine was the conduit to a dramatic change in the direction of my career.
I have made so many positive changes to my own diet and lifestyle and feel healthier and more energised than ever before. My working life is more fulfilling and rewarding. Practicing lifestyle medicine and incorporating microbiome science into my general practice work has prevented my own burnout and given me hope for the future of general practice.
Allopathic medicine, in my view, has been failing for a long time and it is obvious to me that many drug based protocols benefit the pharmaceutical industry more than my patients. Lifestyle medicine empowers people to take control of their own health to prevent, manage and even reverse the chronic diseases plaguing our nation. People are waking up to this and are demanding a different approach.
Lifestyle Medicine is the answer. How has it changed your practise?
1. https://www.bma.org.uk/what-we-do/committees/general-practitioners-committee/the-value-of-a-gp
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