From disease management to health creation
Master Class Starts
Master Class Starts
March 21, 2026
Beyond Pills and Protocols: The Roots of Salutogenic Science
David Rakel, MD
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American healthcare spends $5 trillion and produces worse health outcomes. Is there a better way?
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Learn what creates health instead of just treating disease
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How your presence, perception, and connection rewire patient physiology
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Lifestyle interventions that reverse metabolic dysfunction 86% of the time
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Meaning and purpose as a longevity intervention
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CLASS OVERVIEW
How to Shift From Disease Management to Health Creation
This 5-hour master class distills Dr. Rakel's 30 years of clinical experience into an applicable framework for shifting from pathogenic (disease-focused) to salutogenic (health-focused) medicine.
You'll learn:
These are evidence-based principles that should be taught in medical school but aren't.
The good news: it's learnable, immediately applicable, and it transforms both patient outcomes and your experience of practicing medicine.
You'll learn:
- How belief literally becomes biology through neuropeptide cascades
- Why your presence is often more therapeutic than your prescription
- Decision-making that serves patients instead of protocols How to intentionally create healing encounters that activate meaning, purpose, and self-healing
These are evidence-based principles that should be taught in medical school but aren't.
The good news: it's learnable, immediately applicable, and it transforms both patient outcomes and your experience of practicing medicine.
A vital but overlooked aspect of healing
Most clinicians are trained exclusively in pathogenesis—the origins of disease. We're taught to identify symptoms, order tests, and prescribe interventions. We're very good at it.
But we've largely abandoned salutogenesis—understanding what creates health and resilience.
Your patients improve temporarily, then plateau or regress. You add more protocols. They add more supplements.
Progress may not stick if you're not addressing the underlying psychological architecture.
Research shows that meaning, purpose, patient connection, and perception have measurable physiological effects. They can often be more powerful than the supplements and dietary protocols you're prescribing.
Yet these powerful aspects of healing aren't taught in medical school and are rarely part of a treatment protocol.
As a result, patients may not get better. You may slowly burn out trying to manage symptoms instead of facilitating healing.
This course teaches you how to integrate salutogenesis into your treatment strategies to boost the effectiveness of your protocols while adding more joy and ease and preventing burnout.
But we've largely abandoned salutogenesis—understanding what creates health and resilience.
Your patients improve temporarily, then plateau or regress. You add more protocols. They add more supplements.
Progress may not stick if you're not addressing the underlying psychological architecture.
Research shows that meaning, purpose, patient connection, and perception have measurable physiological effects. They can often be more powerful than the supplements and dietary protocols you're prescribing.
Yet these powerful aspects of healing aren't taught in medical school and are rarely part of a treatment protocol.
As a result, patients may not get better. You may slowly burn out trying to manage symptoms instead of facilitating healing.
This course teaches you how to integrate salutogenesis into your treatment strategies to boost the effectiveness of your protocols while adding more joy and ease and preventing burnout.
Did You Know...
Did You Know...
Most metabolic dysfunction can be reversed through lifestyle changes, not medication.
The placebo effect can be amplified when compassionately delivered.
Your presence is a clinical tool most doctors never learn to use intentionally.
The Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of diabetes progression solely through food quality.
People with meaning and purpose in their lives are 2.5x less likely to experience premature death.
Soluble fiber before meals reduces A1C at almost twice the threshold for diabetes drugs.
Introducing Beyond Pills and Protocols: The Roots of Salutogenic Science
A 5-hour master class that teaches clinicians how to practice medicine in a way that actually heals patients—and doesn't burn you out in the process.
For 30 years, David Rakel, MD, has been asking a question most clinicians never ask:
This course distills that 30-year journey into clinical applicable strategies you can implement in your next patient encounter.
You'll learn why perception shapes physiology. Why connection activates self-healing. Why meaning drives behavior change more powerfully than any protocol.
And how to structure every patient interaction—even in time-constrained settings—to activate these healing mechanisms ethically and effectively.
This isn't alternative medicine. It's the science that should have been taught in medical school but wasn't.
For 30 years, David Rakel, MD, has been asking a question most clinicians never ask:
- What if we stopped looking at patients through the lens of what's wrong and started looking at what's right?
- What if we understood the science of creating health instead of just treating disease?
This course distills that 30-year journey into clinical applicable strategies you can implement in your next patient encounter.
You'll learn why perception shapes physiology. Why connection activates self-healing. Why meaning drives behavior change more powerfully than any protocol.
And how to structure every patient interaction—even in time-constrained settings—to activate these healing mechanisms ethically and effectively.
This isn't alternative medicine. It's the science that should have been taught in medical school but wasn't.
COURSE FEATURES
What You'll Learn in This Course
1
How Belief Becomes Biology
Perception influences immune function, pain sensation, and healing. Learn to ethically shift perception toward positive expectancy without expectation.
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The Clinician Effect
Activate trust to accelerate healing—from pausing before entering a room to therapeutic touch. Skilled clinicians with placebo often outperform distant clinicians with active medication.
3
The ECHO Model of decision making
Learn the ECHO decision-making protocol used across the VA to weigh evidence, harm, cost, and patient preference to find the right therapy for the right person.
4
Salutogenic-Oriented Sessions
Learn the four ingredients of healing encounters and the specific questions that unlock motivation. Discover how to structure sessions intentionally without burning out.
5
Low-Cost, High-Evidence Interventions
Discover evidence-based interventions for metabolic dysfunction with revesal rates that dwarf pharmaceutical outcomes.
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Activating the 2.5X Factor
Learn practical tools to help patients connect to purpose and meaning, the single most powerful predictor of behavior change.
MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR
David Rakel, MD
Dr. David Rakel is Professor and Chair of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Wisconsin, where he founded the Integrative Health Program. He received the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award and led the VA's "Whole Health" implementation across 50+ clinical systems.
Dr. Rakel has published 11 books including the Textbook of Family Medicine and Integrative Medicine, and conducts research on mindfulness and therapeutic relationships. He is a graduate of Colorado College and Baylor College of Medicine, with additional training in integrative medicine at the University of Arizona.
Dr. Rakel has published 11 books including the Textbook of Family Medicine and Integrative Medicine, and conducts research on mindfulness and therapeutic relationships. He is a graduate of Colorado College and Baylor College of Medicine, with additional training in integrative medicine at the University of Arizona.
COURSE CONTENT
Course Session Information
Course Session Information
This 5-hour recorded Master Class is structured around five comprehensive modules, each building on the last to provide a complete framework for shifting from pathogenic (disease-focused) to salutogenic (health-focused) clinical practice.
SESSION 1
The Roots of Salutogenic Science
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Understand the difference between pathogenesis (origins of disease) and salutogenesis (origins of health) and why this shift transforms patient outcomes
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Learn why healthcare spending is inversely correlated with health outcomes and what needs to change
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Discover how meaning and purpose literally rewire physiology and overcome genetic risk
SESSION 2
Placebo, Perception, and Process in Practice
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Master the science of perception: how belief becomes biology through neuropeptide cascades
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Understand the clinician effect and why your presence is often more therapeutic than your prescription
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Learn the difference between empathy and compassion and why it matters clinically
SESSION 3
Metabolic Dysfunction as a Case Study
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Understand metabolic dysfunction pathophysiology and why lifestyle interventions dramatically outperform pharmaceutical approaches
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Learn the evidence for food quality, soluble fiber, and other low-cost interventions that reverse disease
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Discover how to identify and reverse metabolic dysfunction before it becomes cirrhosis, heart disease, or dementia
SESSION 4
Therapeutic Decision Making and Clinical Pearls
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The ECHO model (Efficacy, Cost, Harm, Opinion) for making decisions that serve patients instead of protocols
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Learn clinical pearls for chronic pain, cognitive function, and common conditions that challenge standard approaches
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Understand how to weigh evidence of benefit against evidence of harm to make better clinical choices
SESSION 5
Creating Healing Encounters
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Learn the four ingredients of healing ceremonies and how to structure every patient encounter to activate them
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Discover the specific questions and practices that unlock meaning, purpose, and motivation in patients
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Understand how to practice this way sustainably and avoid the burnout that comes from disconnected medicine
SESSION 6
Bridging theory to practice
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Integrate all five modules into a cohesive practice model
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Practical strategies for real-world implementation
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Sustainability and burnout prevention
What's Included in the Course
What's Included in the Course
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5 comprehensive recorded modules (5 hours total)
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Clinical reference guides and decision-making templates
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Lifetime access for subscribers
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Three-month access for single course purchase
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Downloadable slide decks from each module
Online course available beginning:
March 21, 2026
Transform Your Practice...
Enroll Today!
Transform Your Practice...
Enroll Today!
Enroll Today!
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MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION
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$399
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This Course
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Members-only Q&A platform
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Practitioner community
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Patient referral network
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Work toward certification (Save $2,500+/year)
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Cancel at any time
SINGLE CLASS
SINGLE CLASS
$295
$295
3 Months Access
This Course ($395 Value) Includes:
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Practice medicine in a way that heals patients AND sustains your own wellbeing.
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Learn interventions, products, and strategies without regulatory constraints.
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Decision-making tools in your next patient encounter.
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In an AI world, authentic presence and emotional intelligence distinguishes you.
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Join clinicians practicing medicine that creates health.
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