East West Health uses elements of both western and eastern medicine
Regan Archibald was a young student at the University of Utah, eager to study medicine and begin a lifetime of helping people.
But something wasn’t adding up. As he continued through school with the desire to become a doctor, he discovered that western medicine didn’t have all the answers as he had once thought. Drugs and surgery could solve some ailments, sure, but part of the equation was missing. It gradually became clear as a professor turned him onto eastern medicine that finishing his education at Utah was not the right path.
“The farther along I got in my undergraduate work, the more I realized that there are just two options I would have as a doctor, and those are drugs or surgery,” Archibald said. “I had no desire to do that. I always had this innate understanding that the body could heal itself.”
So Archibald left Utah and went to Hawaii. There, he studied at the Traditional Chinese Medical College of Hawaii, learning the ways of eastern medicine. When he returned to Utah, he opened his own clinic, East West Health, and designed it to find the proper convergence of western medicine and eastern medicine because he sees truth in elements of each method.
“I wanted to bring on a western perspective with eastern, holistic medicine,” he said. “Because I see a lot with holistic medicine of people getting far too extreme on one side, and I see the same in western medicine. So why not just bridge the gap?”
Now Archibald, after creating East West Health locations all over Utah, is opening a clinic in Park City, where he has lived for six years.
The clinic, which was set to officially open Sept. 17 [22], will focus on a holistic approach to medicine and attempt to find and treat the root causes of ailments.
Archibald said the clinic designs programs for people based on five pillars of health: detoxification, nutrition, fitness, brain health and hormones. He said his methods have been successful in treating conditions such as infertility, chronic pain, arthritis, fatigue and depression. They are also effective in simply helping patients maintain strong overall health.
“I just think it’s time to be in Park City,” he said. “I think the community needs the services we offer. It just feels like the right time. I thought about doing it six years ago, but I just kept running into different blocks.”
John Lawrence, a doctor who will be treating patients at the clinic, said the East West Health represents a great opportunity for Park City residents to focus on living a healthy lifestyle. Like Archibald, Lawrence’s roots are in western medicine — he said he has practiced in traditional western health clinics for 15 years — but he has long held a belief that a holistic method is the best way to treat patients.
Lawrence said he has seen a huge shift in patients being more open to holistic approaches in recent years — many simply don’t want to take medicine — and believes it is slowly filtering into the mainstream.
“I think in western medicine, there’s a big movement coming this way,” he said. “The two aren’t against each other, even among MDs and major universities. You need to have total health and balance for the body to heal.”
Archibald agreed, but added that many Park City residents are already open to the idea of holistic medicine. Many live in Park City because fitness and health are important to them, and he believes East West Health will quickly become a trusted medical provider here.
“The mentality here when it comes to health is different than any of our other clinics,” he said. “Most of the population is doing far beyond the national average, as far as activities go or the way they eat. That will just help funnel them into this type of medicine.”
East West Health is holding a free community event at Red Rock Junction on Sept. 16 to celebrate its opening. For details on how to attend, contact the clinic at 435-640-1353.
— by Bubba Brown, The Park Record
Originally published 9/4/15
Read the original article here