My Journey Began as a Patient
Long before I became a physician, I was a patient. My own experience with chronic illness became the beginning of a lifelong search to understand why illness develops, what allows the body to heal, and how health can be restored.
A Diagnosis That Changed Everything
At the age of 19, I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. Like many patients facing a chronic illness, I was told there was no cure and that I would likely require lifelong medications, experience recurring flare-ups, and might eventually need surgery.
I followed the recommended treatments, but they did not provide the improvement I was hoping for.
That experience changed my life.
“If I wanted to regain my health, I needed to understand why I had become ill.”
— Michael Rothman, MDFrom Physics to Medicine
At the time, I was studying physics at SUNY Binghamton and had never planned on becoming a physician. My search for answers eventually led me to medical school at the University of Miami in 1982.
A Broader Understanding of Health
My own recovery began before medical school and continued to shape the way I studied health, physiology, and chronic illness.
Mind-Body Practices
Martial arts, Chi Gong, breathing techniques, meditation, and other mind-body practices helped demonstrate how strongly the nervous system, stress, and lifestyle can influence health.
Physiology & Metabolism
Over the following decades, I continued studying physiology, biochemistry, nutrition, metabolism, environmental medicine, and related approaches to understanding chronic illness.
Broader Healing Disciplines
My studies also included medical acupuncture, naturopathic principles, environmental exposures, heavy metal toxicity, and other healing disciplines.
Mentorship
More than twenty years of mentorship with Dr. Schenker helped shape many aspects of my clinical thinking.
Pioneering Thinkers
I explored the work of physicians and scientists including Revici, Watson, Pottenger, Riddick, and others who challenged conventional ways of thinking about disease.
Every Patient Added a Piece
Every patient, mentor, book, and experience contributed another piece to my understanding of how the body regulates, adapts, and recovers.
Understanding My Illness Differently
As my understanding of chronic illness evolved, I began to see my own health journey as the interaction of multiple factors rather than a single isolated disease process.
The Experience That Still Shapes My Work Today
Rather than viewing my illness as a single disease affecting one organ, I came to understand it as the result of multiple physiologic systems becoming progressively dysregulated.
By systematically improving my nutrition, sleep, stress management, environmental exposures, metabolic health, and overall lifestyle, I experienced a complete restoration of my health.
Today, I enjoy excellent health, and that personal journey continues to influence every patient I care for.
A Different Way of Looking at Chronic Illness
The questions that began with my own health journey continue to guide the way I evaluate complex and chronic health concerns today.
Explore The Rothman Method™