Gaining health to reduce care

The goal for one of the newest doctors in town is to ensure her patients no longer need her.

Rayme Geidl is a family physician and a board-eligible bariatric doctor. She started working on the Palouse last August and began practicing bariatric medicine at Moscow Medical in April.

"I don't want to just give patients a pill," Geidl said. "I want to show them how we can give them a strategy to actually reverse the problem."

Bariatrics is known for weight loss, be it surgical or lifestyle. Geidl focuses on the lifestyle.

When patients come in, she first makes sure they're on the same page. If simply losing weight is their goal but their medical data is clean, Geidl isn't the best option.

But patients who want to feel better, have more energy or increase their longevity - those patients, Geidl can work with. She can help people reduce medications related to diabetes, high blood pressure, joint pain or anything else that could be related to obesity.

"I was seeing a lot of patients struggling with metabolic issues and body composition, and I realized I couldn't help them very well," Geidl, a Troy native and University of Idaho graduate, said. "I didn't have the training. ... I was feeling inadequate as a doctor. I could prescribe medicine, and that could help make testing numbers better, but I wasn't solving the problem. I wasn't healing them, which is what I want to do."

So during her medical residency in Spokane, Geidl, who attended the University of Nevada medical school, began to investigate nutrition and bariatrics.

First, she attended continuing education conferences on nutrition beginning in 2008, then began to connect with bariatrics doctors - not surgeons - across the country through the American Society of Bariatric Physicians.

"It's not a new idea," she said. "I wanted to teach people and give them what they need and a strategy to reverse the problem. I'm practicing the best medicine in my life because my patients don't need me."

That's not to say Geidl doesn't believe in medication or quality health care. But if she can help take a patient off blood pressure medication by controlling diet and exercise, that's the goal. And patients need to feel better, not just look better.

"The weight on the scale is the least important number to measure in terms of 'health', function and feeling," she said. "I tell my patients they're not allowed to weigh themselves, because that's not the focus."

At Moscow Medical, Geidl works with the rest of the team - Dr. John Grauke, a family physician and board certified sleep medicine doctor, and physician assistant Todd Bledsoe, who focuses on rural health care, as well as two nurses and two medical assistants. The clinic also pairs with Gritman Medical Center.

Geidl has another ally: Reid Hazelbaker, a National Academy of Sports Medicine certified trainer. Besides being available to work with clients, Hazelbaker is Geidl's own trainer. He also has nutritional training to complement Geidl's.

"It's great," Geidl said of Moscow Medical. "It's a great place, and there are great patients. Dr. Grauke is very supportive."

One of the things Grauke added to Moscow Medical is an InBody body composition measuring tool, which uses electric currents to measure muscle versus adipose tissue (fat) in the body. Having that set of numbers helps Geidl actually determine the tissue balance of a patient - unlike the Body Mass Index (BMI) indicator.

"It's such a valuable tool," Geidl said. "I'm not sure there's anything else remotely similar in this area."

It just adds to Geidl's plan of gathering data and setting goals. She works with patients to figure out exactly what they need to do, and how to do it, for a personalized lifestyle plan.

"This isn't one size fits all," she said. "It's about the individual, their obstacles, goals and what works for them. So when we make a plan, we structure it around what works for you."

Ultimately, she wants health for her patients, and with some, she'd be content to see them occasionally for tune-ups and get them off all medications.

"We don't come into the world broken. Something has happened to us," she said.

And getting them back on track is her goal.

Moscow Medical is located at 213 N. Main St. in Moscow. The phone number is (208) 882-7565. Geidl is accepting new patients.

Amelia Venezian can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 233, or by email to aveneziano@dnews.com.