At the heart of the Wellness Paradox is creating viable referral mechanisms between physicians and fitness professionals. Indeed, making fitness professionals apart of healthcare means seamless referral, just like any other aspect of healthcare. A significant part of that referral mechanism is an accurate resource for physicians (and consumers) to find and vet fitness professionals with appropriate experience and education to work with individuals who suffer from chronic disease. Our guest in episode 66, Lisa Dougherty, the founder for the MedFit Network, has done just that.
Our conversation will explore Lisa’s experience with her father that caused her to develop the vision to create this network. Furthermore, we’ll discuss the gaps she views exists in educating fitness professionals on medical conditions, and what she has done with the MedFit Education Foundation to close off those gaps. Finally, we’ll spend some time talking about her latest exciting initiative, MedFit Care, an exciting new program seeking to connect patients with physicians who can provide referral to qualified fitness professionals to assist in treating their medical condition.
Lisa is a very passionate and enthusiastic advocate for medical fitness and enhancing the standard of practice in our profession. She has dedicated her career to making this a reality through all of her work with MedFit. This conversation will provide a compelling look “under the hood,” at her journey as well as the opportunities she sees for fitness professionals to work within the healthcare delivery system in the future.
Our Guest: Lisa Dougherty
Lisa started her fitness career in 1999 and has worked for over 20 years with clients with medical conditions or chronic diseases, amassing dozens of certifications and continuing education along the way. Inspired by her father’s cancer battle, she created the MedFit Network to help connect those with medical conditions to fitness, health & wellness professionals who could serve them. Later, seeing a gap in specialized education for these professionals, she founded the MedFit Education Foundation to facilitate and create high-quality education for all facets of medical fitness. She just recently launched MedFit Care which will offer medically necessary exercise prescriptions.