How to Find a Doctor Who Treats You as an Individual (Not a Diagnosis)
Podcast spotlight: Carrie Levine on The Medical Disruptor (September 23, 2025)
Most women know the drill: rushed visits, “normal” labs, maybe a prescription—and symptoms that still don’t make sense. In this conversation with Dr. E (the NP with a PhD), I share why whole‑person care isn’t a luxury; it’s medicine. As I tell patients, “I listen. I believe. I treat people as individuals. And that is medicine.”
Educational only; not a substitute for individualized medical care.
What This Episode Covers
Being believed: why listening is often the most powerful treatment.
Systems biology: hormones, gut, immune, and mind are chapters of the same book.
N‑of‑1 care & teamwork: track your response and build a collaborative care team.
Show host: Dr. E — The Medical Disruptor
Why I Practice This Way
I trained as a certified nurse midwife in hospitals, then moved into functional medicine when I realized I needed more time and better tools to connect the dots. Today I run a small practice in Maine focused on hormones and whole‑person care.
Systems Biology, Simply
Your symptoms don’t live in silos. Food affects mood. Sleep shapes hormones. Stress changes digestion. I organize care with three simple tools:
Timeline: a brief life map (“I haven’t been the same since…”) to identify pivot points.
Symptom scorecard: quick 1–5 ratings so we know what’s improving.
Lifestyle levers: sleep, stress, movement, nourishment, relationships.
How to Find a Clinician Who Treats You
Green Flags
Time & curiosity: They ask about your timeline, not just this week.
Whole‑system thinking: They connect gut, hormones, immune, and mood.
Shared decisions + team mindset: Options are explained; collaboration welcomed.
Tracking together: You agree on simple ways to measure progress.
Red Flags
Dismisses your lived experience (e.g., “That’s not possible,” “It’s in your head”).
Jumps to protocols before hearing your story.
Overpromises or treats labs as the only truth.
Smart Questions to Ask
How will you connect my symptoms across systems?
How long is the first visit, and what history will you want?
How will we track progress—and what’s Plan B if I don’t improve?
Safety first: New chest pain, severe shortness of breath, fainting, or neurologic symptoms require urgent conventional care. For palpitations (common in perimenopause), rule out cardiac causes before assuming hormones are the driver.
What Changes When You’re Finally Believed
Many women can pinpoint a moment: an infection, a move, a high‑stress job, antibiotics, pregnancy, loss. Being believed is the beginning. From there, we co‑create a plan that fits your biology and life—and adjust based on your response.
Two small ways to start:
Track sleep (hours/awakenings) and hot flashes for two weeks.
Anchor each meal with protein and add two colors to your plate.
Episode Highlights
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:00 Carrie’s path to midwifery
00:05:00 Burnout and hospital exit
00:07:00 Discovering functional medicine
00:19:00 Systems biology explained
00:37:00 N-of-1 care and patient trust
Build Your Team
There’s room for all of it: conventional diagnostics, lifestyle medicine, somatic therapies, pelvic floor PT, acupuncture—whatever moves you toward feeling well. No single clinician does it all. Aim for fit + trust: a practitioner whose approach makes sense in your body and whose presence feels safe.
Listen to the Conversation
Follow Dr. E of The Medical Disruptor for more whole‑person conversations.
With care,
Carrie