1. Strive above all else to do no harm to the individual who seeks your help.

1. Remember that Iatrogenic means that you did it
2. Weigh the costs of any intervention
3. Always start with the lowest tech solution

2. Respect the body; it knows more about healing than you do

1. Given proper support the body can work miracles
2. Cut, burn or prescribe prescription drugs only when absolutely necessary

3. Patients are people; treat them as such

1. Appreciate the context of their illness
2. Don’t miss the forest while looking at the trees (Treat the whole person)

4. Look for and treat the cause of the illness

1. “Medicine is only palliative, for back of disease lies the cause, and this cause no drug can reach.” - Wier Mitchel, M.D.
2. If an individual is on a drug for longer than 2 weeks it is unlikely that the cause of the problem has been identified

5. Remember that “Doctor” means “Teacher”

1. Teach your patients how to take personal responsibility for their own health
2. “It is the primary responsibility of the physician to teach his patient not to take medicine” - Sir William Osler

6. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

1. It is also considerably less expensive
2. “The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause of disease.”
3. “It should be the function of medicine to have people die young as late as possible.” --Ernst L. Wynder, M.D.