Although we are still early in the genomic revolution, Dr. Ralph Snyderman, the ‘Father of Personalized Medicine,’ says we already know enough to practice personalized predictive care right now.
Ralph Snyderman, MD, Chancellor Emeritus at Duke University and James B. Duke Professor of Medicine is also known as “The Father of Personalized Medicine.” How fitting that I was able to chat with him about the topic at the amazing Personalized Medicine World Congress (PMWC 15) that I attended a short time ago. In addition to his many accomplishments that you can read about here, Dr. Snyderman is also an ardent proponent of more compassionate health care that clearly put the patient at the center.
In Part 1 of the two part video series, Dr. Snyderman discusses how personalized predictive care can be implemented, using existing tools, without having to wait for the full promise of genomic medicine to be realized.
In Part 2 of the video series, we discuss the challenge of engaging the unengaged patient. Just telling folks what they need to do to stay healthy is not enough for many people. Dr. Snyderman says that we also need to understand what our patients want to use their health for. Some individuals may want to stay healthy so they can play with their grandchildren, others may just want to feel better. Once we understand the individual patient’s reasons for wanting to stay healthy, we clinicians should work with them to develop shared goals and a personalized treatment plan to help them get there.