Dr. Laurie Robinson opens Lifestyle Medicine Solutions

Dr. Laurie Robinson, who has practiced family medicine at Burke Primary Care for 23 years, has launched a new venture – Lifestyle Medicine Solutions of North Carolina.

But, she is quick to tell a visiting reporter, her new business will not affect her practice at Burke Primary Care – she’ll continue to serve her patients there three days a week as she has from the beginning of her career.

And, she’s not going into the endeavor with the idea of making more money.

“I really enjoy being able to take the time and work with people in a relaxed environment,” Robinson said. “And it’s very gratifying to help them see real results.”

Robinson sits down for an interview on a typical, late summer afternoon in Burke County in her small office in the back of Burke Sports and Family Medicine, a division of Burke Primary Care, on West Parker Road.

Looking out her office window, the new Grace Hospital tower looms across the way, while the nearby ridges of the South Mountains, including High Peak, are bathed in steamy July sunshine.

Robinson is a petite woman with sparkling eyes, a winning smile, and a quiet voice. Her patients say her bedside manner is so endearing she almost makes you want to be sick.

So what has pushed Robinson, who received her medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta back in the 1990s, to become certified by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and to open a new business?

“I’ve always been interested in nutrition and in using diet to improve health,” she answered. “And we know that obesity has become so common and become such a struggle for so many people. I just felt it was time to add my certification in Lifestyle Medicine.”

Although now fully enmeshed in the Burke County community, Robinson grew up in Athens, Ga., home to the University of Georgia, the Bulldogs, and some of the most rabid football fans in the nation.

“It was really neat growing up in a big college town,” Robinson remembers. “My dad was a professor in the Business School, and I just had exposure to a lot of forward-looking people.”

The proximity to the Georgia campus allowed Robinson to begin taking university classes while in high school. Once enrolled as a Bulldog, Robinson said she was hesitant to pick a major.

“I was interested in biology, physical therapy, and ecology,” she recalled. “But in the back of my mind, I kept coming back to doctor.”

While finishing her medical degree and then completing her residency at Anderson (S.C.) Area Medical Center, Robinson found herself drawn to family practice. “I can treat patients from birth to 99,” she said, smiling.

It was while in medical school that Robinson met her husband, Dr. Tim Robinson, and he too has practiced at Burke Primary Care for nearly a quarter of a century.

PILLARS OF LIFESTYLE MEDICINE

The pillars of Lifestyle Medicine, Robinson explained, are Nutrition, Fitness, Stress Management, Restorative Sleep, Avoiding Vice, and making Connections with other people. (See accompanying story.)

The foundation of that nutrition component, Robinson added, is a wholefood, plant-based diet.

“Our diets are so ingrained in us that change can be very difficult,” Robinson said. “A lot of people need more time and more counseling than can be given in a regular doctor’s office visit.”

Robinson cautioned that people who come to her at her lifestyle medicine practice must be willing to make changes in their lives.

“There has to be some self-motivation there,” Robinson said. “The process is going to require commitment and it’s going to require effort. But I find that with the proper guidance, many people can become very motivated.”

So how does the process work?

Robinson explained that the first step in developing patient priorities and a plan of action is to have a body composition test done on her in-office InBody testing device.

The device provides an in depth analysis of the body’s composition including body fat percentage, a measurement of skeletal muscle mass, a look at visceral fat levels, a segmental lean analysis, which examines each arm, each leg, and the body’s trunk, a segmental fat analysis, which also looks at each section of the body, and the body’s water content.

After examining the results of that testing, Dr. Robinson likes to have a 75-minute consultation with the patient to go over the results and to plot out a course of action that is sustainable.

Follow-up sessions are then scheduled to monitor patient progress and to provide support when difficulties are encountered.

At present, Robinson is seeing patients in the new business, which is located at 149 W. Parker Road, Suite A., on Thursdays and occasionally on Saturdays.

Consultations may be scheduled by going to www.lifestylemedicinesolutionsnc.com.

Robinson explained that most insurance companies do not currently cover Lifestyle Medicine visits, although that may change in the future.

“All of the tenets of Lifestyle Medicine are evidence-based,” Robinson concluded. “These are not just theories. They are all supported by high-quality, in depth studies.”