JULIE FOUCHER, MD is a former CrossFit Games athlete, graduate of Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University (where I attended medical school, too!) and an incredible personal family physician currently caring for patients through Wild Health, a company providing personalized precision medicine with a functional focus. In addition to all of those roles, she is recently engaged & she and her fiancé are raising a young man from Tanzania – you can learn more about their story here. Dr. Foucher is also (somehow!) a mentor to a dear friend of mine (Jamie DeCicco, soon-to-be M.D. - which is how I got connected to Julie!). I've been admiring Julie's career and personal journey from afar for years, since her rise in CrossFit coincided with me starting to train that way in 2012.
I remember talking about Dr. Foucher in my interview for medical school at Case, because I have looked up to her for such a long time. It feels surreal to have had the opportunity to interview her for her perspectives on wholistic, lifelong care - many of which I'm already familiar with because of her wonderful podcast, Pursuing Health. I highly recommend taking a listen for practical tips on how to improve your wellness and deep dives with experts in easy-to-understand conversations; a recent favorite episode is Built To Move with Kelly and Juliet Starett (you'll want to read the book after, so here's the link).
You can keep up with Dr. Foucher on socials:
Instagram (most active) @juliefoucher / X @Julie_Foucher
What certifications and additional trainings have you completed in addition to family medicine residency?
I have a Masters in Nutrition that I received from Case during medical school. I also completed Integrative Medicine in Residency through the University of Arizona. I've completed coursework through the Institute for Functional Medicine while in residency and I am completing more training now in practice. I haven’t yet pursued the path to become an IFM Certified Practitioner. I have completed the Precision Medicine fellowship through Wild Health [Dr. Foucher's employer].
What has been the most useful certification/training? Why?
The IFM coursework has been the most useful for me, because it opened my mind and exposed me to new ways of thinking about medicine. I was first exposed to Functional Medicine when Dr. Hyman was opening the Center for Functional Medicine at Cleveland Clinic. His philosophy was a paradigm shift for me - he articulated words that mirrored my thoughts and feelings on how medicine should be practiced. He described the body as a system, and treating it as such - not siloed separate specialties caring for individual parts. Training through the Institute for Functional Medicine is very extensive - there are 5 day trainings and 3 day trainings on various topics. They dive deep into the basics of physiology and biochemistry, in ways I hadn’t since the start of medical school, but now in the context of clinical care and how it applies to patients.
One of the downsides of this training is that it wasn’t as practically helpful at the time when I went through it. There was a lot of information, but it initially did not translate well when I was actually in front of a patient. In retrospect, I think a lot of this was because the teachings I had at that point were foundational, not so much about the application. IFM has incorporated feedback on this since, and there are now more opportunities for practitioners to connect with mentors and learn how to apply their knowledge in practice.
One of the reasons I love Functional Medicine is because it gives me a framework to put what I fundamentally believe about health into practice.
Regarding the Integrative Medicine Fellowship online modules I did during residency - I think this exposes you to a lot of information and ways of practicing, and can be a great resource, but it can also be time-consuming, and I'm not sure how much I actually implemented on day-to-day basis beyond things I had already picked up from my own interests in health and healing.
From her biography:
Dr. Foucher's passion lies in bridging the gap between fitness and medicine to empower individuals to live healthier, more fulfilling lives. She continues to do CrossFit for health and longevity.
From your experience, and in your own words, what is the difference between integrative, lifestyle, and functional medicine? How do you practice with your own patients?
Each type of care, whether it's holistic, integrative, functional, lifestyle - the philosophies all overlap, and they all make sense to me. But there are some differences.
- Precision Medicine to me is addressing each person as an individual based on their data points, labs, genetics, etc.
- Functional Medicine focuses on addressing the root cause. But in practicality, this philosophy can get lost in the weeds when people practice more esoteric aspects of functional medicine. (Ditto with integrative medicine!).
- Integrative Medicine to me is eastern and western medicine, using many tools together. (But this approach can become overwhelming.)
For me in my practice, I take the most of many worlds. I haven’t married myself to any one of these methods. It’s the philosophy that matters the most. In my practice, I always start with lifestyle principles, and when I maximize that and there are still symptoms, then I turn to other treatments - acupuncture, breathing, supplements, integrative therapies, and others. With this approach, you can both address the root cause and address the symptoms right now. Whole person care, to me, means recognizing that there are physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects to healing.
What advice do you have for physicians interested in taking more of a wholistic, preventative approach to care regarding the training they should pursue?
It's important to ask a lot of questions; the answers will help to guide you.
- What do you see yourself doing as far as work? If you want to run your own practice, it could be really helpful to be in a directory of functional/integrative/other practitioners so people can find you. To be in the directories, you generally need to get a credential. But if your goals are to have a regular family medicine practice and you just want to use these tools, it’s probably NOT as important to get the credential.
- “What’s the purpose behind this? Do I actually need this?” In medicine, we are so conditioned to keep getting the degrees/certifications. I’ve had to stop and ask myself this question before. I haven’t finished my IFM certification because I don’t have my own practice, and I’m not practicing purely functional medicine.
- Are you doing this for education for yourself (learning and feedback), to boost patient care, to improve your resume or to attract patients? Be intentional about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.
Right now I’m taking a course course through Gabor Mate: Compassionate Inquiry. I’ve invested a lot of time and money into this. It’s about emotional health, and it's delivered in Canada, so I don’t get CME. I probably won’t go through with mentorship or certification beyond this. But this training appealed to me to help me on my own healing journey, and I'm incorporating it into my patient encounters. It's made me more aware of my own "stuff" and what I bring into the encounter. I’m better able to tune in to what my patients are saying, to hold space for them, ask pertinent questions, and support them on their journey to emotional wellness.
