DPC and Substack

Same concepts different industry

I often get asked why I chose to found the Institute for Medical Wellness (IMW), a Direct Primary Care (DPC) medical practice.

I also get asked why I chose Substack for publishing my writings otherwise known as blog posts or “stacks”.

After reading through Elon Musk’s Twitter stream Friday night which implicated the loss of some free speech by political parties and corporations, it came to me that:

The reasons I chose to found the IMW as a DPC practice are in essence the same reasons I chose Substack.

I chose DPC for my practice, the IMW, so that I could remain independent, and not be captured by regulators such as employers, hospitals, Big Pharma and the insurance industry. At the IMW I choose what advice to give based on each individuals needs. I don’t have to ask permission from the “authority” who pays my salary. At the IMW my salary is 100% paid by each individual, couple and family who are my patients, or as I prefer to say, members of the IMW, a practice focused on true health and wellcare as opposed to the traditional sick care system.

In other words, I am not “owned” by a 3rd party so I am not controlled by a 3rd party. It’s called freedom and independence to practice how I see fit.

Prior to switching to Substack a year or so ago, I was building an online community thru Facebook and Twitter. Then COVID hit and I observed others writing or discussing anything on Facebook or Twitter about COVID that went against the mainstream political narrative would put a target on their back. So I stopped using Facebook and I altered how I used Twitter. My views did not change but I had to be careful in my wording.

Strange concept in a free country founded on the right to free speech.

I did not care about ending my use of Facebook as it was becoming a place for people to just argue and name call without getting anywhere in the process. Honestly I felt like Facebook was more a bunch of bullies who would feel emboldened to argue and name call through social media where they would not in real life.

On the other hand I kept using Twitter more because many of my Functional Medicine and Low Carb colleagues have great debates and discussions going which I would always learn from. During these debates no one ever cancelled each other. We would agree to disagree, learn another viewpoint, and then move on. Kind of like it should be. But we avoided for the most part deep discussions about COVID as the censorship was getting stronger.

Back to Substack.

The Substack platform has allowed me to build a community similar to my Twitter followers, but without censorship. Substack is also an easy place to write and has many features my old blog host did not have.

But most importantly Substack allows independent writers to leave the captured mainstream media industry and build their own independent following thru their monthly subscription feature.

So now these writers can write what they want to or believe in without 3rd parties stopping them. This is free and independent speech. Many Substack writers are journalists who have left or are planning on leaving the captured mainstream media so they too can be free to express their views in their writing.

Substack for writers is like DPC for physicians. We work for many many individuals and not for a corporation, government, political party, editor or boss. We fully control what we write. We are not owned or captured by any 3rd party.

Soooo, I realize this was NOT a normal stack/post about how to improve your health and wellness. But I think it is important to know that via this Substack platform, you will always get my honest and Commonsense Health and Wellness views.

Honesty, trust and maintaining good healthy relationships are the most important part of the IMW.

Besides reading this stack you can also join my Substack Chat Room.

As always comments are encouraged and appreciated.

While Common Sense Health and Wellness substack is not my primary focus, the IMW is and always will be primary, developing a larger and growing Substack community here is important as well. So thank you for subscribing, thank you to all who leave comments, and a special thank you to all the paid subscribers.

I never have considered myself a writer. But I will give a confidential shout out to an educator in my practice who believes I am actually a writer and enjoys my stacks. So maybe just maybe my writing does make a difference. Maybe just maybe, via substack, I get all of you thinking more about how to improve your own health and wellness.