That gap between “your tests look fine” and “you still do not feel like yourself” is exactly where integrative medicine sits. It is also why people start searching questions like “what is functional medicine” or “what is a functional medicine doctor” when they are exhausted by short answers.
This post explains what integrative and functional-style care actually means in practice, how it differs from a traditional primary care visit, and how a physician uses that model at Lesh Lifestyle in Sarasota.
What is integrative medicine?
Integrative medicine is a way of practicing medicine that focuses on your whole picture. It brings together conventional diagnosis and treatment with tools from nutrition, lifestyle, hormone support, body composition work and mental wellness, with the goal of finding and treating root causes.
In a true integrative visit, your story matters as much as your lab results. A physician takes time to trace how your sleep, stress, hormones, past medical events, medications, movement and nutrition fit together. That bigger map helps explain why you feel the way you do.
At Lesh Lifestyle, integrative medicine also means one doctor who follows you across those different pieces, instead of sending you to a different office for each concern. Dr. Sarah Secor-Jones, DO, FACEP reads your history, orders targeted testing, and then builds a plan that connects what is going on in your biology with how you feel day to day.
Is integrative medicine the same as functional medicine?
Integrative medicine and functional medicine share the same core idea: look for root causes instead of only treating symptoms. They are more like close cousins than totally separate things.
When people type “what is functional medicine” into a search bar, they are often hoping to find care that takes their full story into account, even when basic tests look normal. Functional medicine doctors often use longer visits, detailed timelines of your health history and extended lab panels to answer that “why” question.
Integrative medicine uses many of those same tools, and it keeps a clear link to conventional, evidence-based care. At Lesh Lifestyle, Dr. Sarah uses standard diagnostics along with deeper hormone, metabolic and nutrient testing when it is needed. She prescribes medications when they are the right fit and also uses nutrition, movement, stress support and devices like EMSCULPT NEO or EMSELLA when they belong in the plan.
You can think of integrative medicine as the way functional-style tools are used inside a medical practice run by a board-certified physician.
What is a functional medicine doctor?
A functional medicine doctor is a licensed clinician who uses a root-cause lens to understand your symptoms and then designs a plan around that. They ask “why is this happening?” many times over, and they connect your symptoms to patterns in your history, lifestyle and lab work.
When someone searches “what is a functional medicine doctor,” “what is a doctor of functional medicine,” or “what is a functional medicine dr,” they are usually trying to understand what makes these visits feel different from a short primary care appointment.
In practical terms, functional medicine doctors often offer:
- Longer visits where you can explain everything that has been going on
- Deeper testing when needed, beyond a basic panel
- A plan that connects your fatigue, weight, hormones, gut, mood and sleep, instead of treating each in isolation
Dr. Sarah practices in this functional style inside an integrative medicine framework. Her emergency medicine background means she is very comfortable ruling out urgent problems first. Once safety is clear, she shifts into that deeper “why” work that many functional medicine patients are seeking.
At Lesh Lifestyle, you see a medical doctor who can read an EKG, interpret imaging and manage prescriptions, and who also sits with you long enough to see patterns across your symptoms.
What does an integrative medicine visit in Sarasota actually look like?
An integrative medicine visit at Lesh Lifestyle gives you room for a real conversation. For most new patients, the first visit runs long enough to move beyond a checklist.
Dr. Sarah starts with your story. When did you last feel well? What changed first: sleep, energy, weight, mood, cycles, digestion, or something else? She reviews your past labs and imaging, your medications, supplements and any previous diagnoses.
From there, she performs a focused exam and then orders testing that fits your picture. That might include hormone panels, metabolic markers, inflammatory markers, nutrient levels or other labs that have not been checked yet. She does not order every possible test for everyone. Each panel is chosen for a clear reason.
The follow-up visit is where a lot of people feel the shift. Dr. Sarah walks through your labs with you and explains what each group of numbers means in plain language. You leave with a clear plan that may include hormone therapy, medical weight loss, changes to nutrition, stress support, device-based treatments for body or pelvic health, and simple habits to work on between visits.
If you are local to Sarasota, you can be seen in person at the office downtown. If you live in one of the telehealth states Dr. Sarah serves, some visits can happen by video once the right intake work has been done.
How is this different from a regular primary care or specialist visit?
Traditional primary care is built around short visits and one main job: make sure nothing dangerous is missed. That structure is important for safety. It also means there is often little time left to dig into why you still feel unwell when your tests are “normal.”
An integrative or functional-style visit is built differently from the start. The structure allows:
- Longer time with the physician so your full history is heard
- Space to connect symptoms across systems, like gut and brain, hormones and sleep, mood and pain
- Use of both standard and advanced labs to see patterns over time
Insurance-based visits often have to follow strict coding rules. Integrative practices like Lesh Lifestyle work on a self-pay or membership model, which removes some of those time and code limits. That structure is what allows Dr. Sarah to sit with you longer, follow you more closely between visits and adjust the plan as your body responds.
Integrative medicine does not replace emergency care or needed specialist input. It fills the space between those urgent moments and your day-to-day health, where small shifts can add up over months and years.
What kinds of problems does integrative medicine help with?
Integrative medicine focuses on clusters of symptoms that often cross over several systems at once. People who do well in this model often show up with a mix of:
- Fatigue that does not match their schedule
- Weight gain or loss that does not respond to usual efforts
- Brain fog, trouble focusing or feeling “off” mentally
- Mood shifts, anxiety or low resilience to stress
- Poor sleep, night sweats or waking unrefreshed
- Changes in libido or sexual function
- Digestive issues, bloating or irregularity
- Pelvic floor weakness or bladder leakage
At Lesh Lifestyle, Dr. Sarah uses integrative tools to address these through services like medical weight loss, hormone therapy, mental wellness support, IV therapy, pelvic floor treatments and body optimization. The treatments themselves matter, and the bigger value is how they are sequenced and adjusted as your biology changes.
If you are in Sarasota and have been collecting symptoms without clear answers, an integrative consult can be a place to see how they link together.
What is a functional medicine practitioner?
One point of confusion online is the difference between training programs and formal titles. There is no single protected title such as “Doctor of Functional Medicine” in the way there is for “Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine” or “Doctor of Medicine.”
When you see terms like “what is a functional medicine practitioner,” “what is functional medicine doctor,” or “what is functional medicine doctors,” these usually refer to licensed clinicians who apply functional principles within their own scope of practice.
That group can include:
- Physicians (MD or DO) who have done extra coursework in functional medicine
- Nurse practitioners or physician assistants with functional-style training
- Other licensed clinicians, such as dietitians or chiropractors, who weave functional tools into their work
The key questions to ask any integrative or functional-style provider are:
- What is your base medical training and board certification?
- How many years have you been in practice?
- How do you decide which tests to order and which treatments to recommend?
Dr. Sarah is board certified in emergency medicine, with 12 years in practice and more than 2,000 patients seen. She has additional training in menopause and hormone care and has built her Sarasota practice around integrative and root-cause work. That combination of traditional and integrative training shapes every plan she builds.
How is integrative medicine used at Lesh Lifestyle in Sarasota?
At Lesh Lifestyle, integrative medicine is the framework that guides care. It shapes how each offering is used rather than sitting as its own add-on.
For example, if you come in for persistent brain fog and weight gain, Dr. Sarah may connect you with:
- Integrative medicine and longevity assessment to map your full picture
- Bioidentical hormone therapy when hormone shifts are part of the cause
- Medical weight loss support if metabolic markers and appetite hormones need help
- IV therapy or vitamin injections when nutrient levels are low and need faster support
- Mental wellness tools when mood, anxiety or trauma are part of the pattern
The same integrative thinking guides more focused concerns, like pelvic floor weakness, urinary leakage or body composition changes. EMSELLA, EMSCULPT NEO, Exion or PRF-based treatments are selected when they fit the clinical picture and your long-term goals.
The result is one plan built around your biology and your life, rather than a list of disconnected services.
When should you consider integrative or functional-style care?
You do not need to have a certain diagnosis to consider integrative medicine. Common signs that this model may fit you include:
- You have been told “everything looks normal” but still feel unwell
- You are taking several medications and are not sure which are still needed
- Your symptoms cross several systems, like hormones, mood and digestion
- You want to understand your labs and numbers clearly
If that sounds familiar, starting with an integrative consult in Sarasota can help you see the whole picture. From there, you and Dr. Sarah can decide which pieces to work on first and how quickly to move.
How do you get started with integrative medicine at Lesh Lifestyle?
The first step at Lesh Lifestyle is a discovery call with Dr. Sarah Secor-Jones, DO, FACEP. She personally takes each call, listens to what has been going on and explains how care at the practice works.
On that call, you can share your main concerns, ask questions about membership and get a sense of whether this model fits what you are looking for. There is no pressure to commit on the spot. The goal is clarity.
If you decide to move forward, the next step is a full integrative visit. That is where deep history, targeted testing and a clear plan begin.
When you are ready for care that reads your whole picture and connects your symptoms into a clear plan, integrative medicine in Sarasota can offer that structure.
Dr. Sarah Secor-Jones, DO, FACEP is the founder of Lesh Lifestyle in Sarasota, where she practices integrative, root-cause medicine for patients in Florida and across her telehealth states.
Ready to look at the whole picture?
Dr. Sarah Secor-Jones, DO, FACEP personally takes every discovery call. Share what has been going on and hear how she would investigate it.