David H. Haase, MD is the Medical Director of The MaxWell Clinic for Proactive Medicine.   Dr. Haase received his B.S. in Biology from Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI and his Doctor of Medicine degree from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.   His residency training in Family Medicine was completed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.  He is a Certified Health Coach and holds board certifications in Family Medicine and Holistic Medicine and is also a Certified Nutrition Specialist through the American College of Nutrition.

Dr. Haase's story…

"I simply want to be a good doctor for my patients.   That is why I went to medical school.   I studied hard, made good grades, and sought out the best teachers I could find.   When it was time for me to leave academics and enter private practice, I thought I had a pretty good handle on what patients needed.   Little did I know my education had just begun."

"Unlike my experience at Vanderbilt or Mayo when it was common for me to see a patient once for a consultation or a hospitalization,  in private practice my patients would come back and see ME.   This is one of the most gratifying pieces of medicine… to develop a trusting, long-term relationship with one’s patient.   However, the reason they kept coming back was not to catch up on old times!   The reason they came back is that they often were not helped by the “Textbook Medicine,” I offered them or they were tired of taking “all these medications.” 

"Much of acute disease (infections, surgical problems, trauma) are marvelously treated by our current system of healthcare, however, the growing burden of chronic disease has been quite resistant to our “magic pill” strategy.   Diabetes, Heart Disease, Alzheimer’s, Cancer, Obesity, Arthritis, Osteoporosis, etc. develop slowly and silently.  Common sense and medical science agree that their optimal treatment is PREVENTION and risk factor reduction.   When I understood this I knew I needed to focus my energies upon treating the underlying causes of disease rather than being content to suppress the symptoms with drug after drug. "

"Well that sounds all well and good, but how can we do such a thing?  By understanding a very simple concept…..each one of us is a unique individual, different from anyone else.   Each of us have a unique genetic structure, have eaten unique combinations of foods, have had a unique combination of infections, exposures, stressors, thoughts, and beliefs.   This interplay of Genetics and Environment produces our “health” or “disease.”    This “fit” between your genes and your environment is what we strive to optimize at the MaxWell Clinic."

"It was in a search of options for my patients that I studied Holistic Medicine and Nutritional Medicine.   The number of “options” that exist in treating a disease state is astounding.  I found that some options are good, some are bad, many are ineffective, some are deceitful, and some are just plain dangerous.  But an option that always produced safe, effective results involved creating and supporting my patient through an individualized, comprehensive lifestyle modification and nutritional program."    

"The words “Nutritional Program” do not excite many people.  Who of us doesn’t have some love affair with food?   For me it spans the gamut from gardening, horticultural trivia, herbalism, fine cuisine, cooking, and nutritional medicine.  The more one learns about food the more it becomes obvious that the 20-30 tons of molecules that pass thru our digestive tract have a profound effect on our health and well-being.   Food is not just energy, but rather “molecules of information.”  Soy affects estrogen hormonal systems.  Broccoli “fights” cancer.   Fish oil can modify all types of disease states.   Certain food bacteria can prevent eczema in children.  The list goes on and on.    This leads to the obvious conclusion that our diet affects our health, but to a degree which we may never yet imagined."

"I use the tools that are the safest and most effective for my INDIVIDUAL PATIENT (you).  I don’t care if it is a diet plan, an exercise plan, a stress reduction method, a pharmaceutical drug, a nutritional supplement, a group educational activity, acupuncture, manual medicine, massage, or an herb.  As long as the treatment plan is WISE and WORKS, I do not care from which “camp” healing comes.   My duty and oath as a physician is to the well being of my patient. Period. "

"To this end I practice medicine to the best of my ability." 

Sincerely,

David H. Haase, MD

Medical Director, MaxWell Clinic for Proactive Medicine