Health Seen As A Biological, Mental and Social Balance

Q: What is Womedic’s integral approach to health?

A: Womedic was born from the desire to create an integral approach to healthcare. We look at health as the balance of a person’s biological, mental and social spheres. Traditional healthcare methods are very focused on specialties but when studying a career in medicine, there is really no program that combines different health approaches. We are taught to see the patient in a deconstructed way instead of focusing on the patient as an integral body. I have always approached the patient as the integral being they are and tried to offer the best healthcare solutions to the end, including different treatments, not just medicines.

From the beginning of healthcare, 25,000 years ago, the approach to patients remained the same until 1800, when Abraham Flexner introduced a new care model. The traditional model of health is to treat a patient depending on a certain ailment based on a specialty focus. However, Flexner’s model proposes seeing the person as a whole to get to the root of what is causing that problem. For example, someone with obesity might have a heavy psychological trauma that is causing an eating disorder. However, a doctor’s first recommendation will always be a diet instead of complementing that with psychological treatment.

Moreover, doctors are alone in their practice. While there are medical associations, their main driver is academic; to enhance professionals’ abilities but not to protect their medical community or provide support. I wanted to create a reciprocal environment within Womedic, where patients would be responsible for their health too. Patients who are not responsible for their health will never improve. While it is easy to blame doctors for that result, it is not fair that we have to carry that weight. 

To generate a reciprocal environment, it is important to make patients aware of their status and provide them with all the tools they need to take control of their health. They are the ones feeling the changes within their body, both physical and psychological. Luckily, healthcare trends are leaning toward these practices. Every day, more patients are interested in taking control of their health and in experimenting with new types of healthy lifestyles without depending fully on medications. The key is their desire to understand and genuinely want to take care of their body.

This approach has been scientifically proven and awarded. In 2013, scientist Elizabeth Blackburn discovered how the placebo effect can transform health. According to her discovery, telomeres, which are a health index within the cell, can be enhanced through the placebo effect. She discovered that the only way to enhance this is through meditation, the eradication of negative thoughts and stress management.

Womedic offers this integral healthcare approach and reciprocal environment with a desire that is driven by supporting people’s well-being. In addition to the clinic, I created a platform called Connecting Docs where patients can communicate with doctors and choose the tools that can fit them best. This platform opened a year ago and now has 5,000 doctors. By the end of this year, we hope to have 10,000. Womedic and Connecting Docs are built as coworking spaces where doctors who share our vision can use our spaces and contribute to creating integral health.

It is important to mention that we are not against traditional pharmaceutical drug use. We will always prescribe the appropriate medication to a patient if they need it but for those who do not require drugs, we offer a solution that best fits their needs. As an example, we have COVID-19 patients who receive the recommended treatment for the virus but we additionally focus on enhancing their telomeres so they can have more tools to be healthy.

Q: What are Womedic’s standards regarding technology?

A: We have a device called InstaPAP, which is an electronic pap smear that delivers an immediate result. This is a painless Mexican-Australian technology with 96 percent accuracy for cervical cancer. We also have an electro-impedance mammograph that works like tomography with no radiation and is painless. Additionally, we have laboratories and therapy devices related to stress and diabetes that complement our innovative treatment approach. I am very driven by innovation and high-quality devices so we will always make sure that what we offer is COFEPRIS-approved.

Q: What has been your experience as a successful professional woman in the healthcare industry?

A: The road has been difficult. Prior to opening my own clinic, I worked many years in the Ministry of Health and I got fired because I got pregnant. After this, I decided to follow my dream of delivering an integral approach to healthcare. I worked in the private sector in a company that designs and builds clinics. I was the only woman and I basically ended up subordinated and doing a job that was below that which I was hired for.

Before women started to realize that we need to be allies to empower each other, they would put up obstacles as well. People tended to put leaders inside a box of formality and seriousness and they would often always think of men when the word “leader” popped up. As a result, I would often be asked by both men and women if they could “talk to my boss” when I was the boss. I would not be taken seriously because I was a woman who offered a casual style of leadership.

With Womedic, I also try to empower other women. I try to deliver any information that can help them increase their knowledge on any subject. if I can help them, I will. Moreover, I encourage my collaborators to follow their dreams and grow. I have been there, too, and as a woman, I know what it is like.

Q: How is the COVID-19 pandemic impacting the company and how is the company building a strategy for the new normality?

A: The clinic has implemented all the safety measures required to protect the health of our staff and patients. We have secured all supplies needed for our staff to continue working and we are constantly updating according to the authorities’ guidelines and recommendations to ensure their safety. We do random COVID-19 tests to make sure we do not have an outbreak. My collaborators are very close to me and I would not want to endanger them or their families.

With the pandemic, growth is a luxury. We have been trying to survive and we have not had cut salary or staff. However, we do expect to recover during the second half of the year.

Womedic is a Mexico-City-based clinic that focuses on women’s health. With an integral-health-driven mindset, the clinic provides several diagnostic tests and specialized treatments while maintaining a biological, mental and social balance