& so much more
A bi-monthly podcast where we share the stories of our Caregivers, patients and community.
& so much more
Why A Family Doctor Who Treats Mind, Body & Spirit Changes Outcomes
A stronger primary care relationship can be the difference between constant crisis and steady health. That’s the throughline of our conversation with Dr. Detwiler, the incoming Director of Osteopathic Medicine at the CMG Lynchburg Family Medicine Residency. Dr. Detwiler brings rural roots, 25 years of family practice and a clear mission, to train physicians who treat mind, body and spirit while delivering measurable results for communities that need care the most.
We dig into what actually sets osteopathic medicine apart. It’s not a split from modern medicine. DOs are fully trained in the same diagnostics, procedures and specialties as MDs. The distinction is a disciplined focus on human connection, structure and function and the body’s capacity to heal with proper support. That lens changes the clinic room. Conversations include stress, sleep, work, beliefs and budget, because those factors drive adherence and outcomes. We also clear up misconceptions about OMT. Osteopathic manipulative treatment is a practical, hands-on tool for musculoskeletal issues, designed to complement medications and therapy, not replace them. At LFMR, we’re building a curriculum that helps residents provide OMT efficiently within standard visits.
There’s a bigger system story too. Healthcare is shifting toward value-based care, where metrics like blood pressure control, A1C levels, and vaccination rates matter. LFMR’s team-based model with residents, faculty, imaging, lab, OB care and social work under one roof makes it easier to close loops and lift those numbers. And the pipeline is real. By partnering with LUCOM and integrating trainees with local surgeons, hospitalists and specialists, we’re creating the relationships that encourage physicians to stay at Centra for their care. That means more access, shorter waits and care that feels personal and effective.
We’re also launching an OMT clinic at LFMR for patients seeking targeted help with back and musculoskeletal pain from an osteopathic perspective. If you’ve struggled to find a primary care provider who listens and coordinates, we’d love to meet you. Subscribe, share this episode with someone who needs a steady healthcare home, and leave a review to help more people discover whole-person primary care in Lynchburg.
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Hi, and welcome to In So Much More. I am here with Dr. Deb Weiler, and he is the incoming director of the um it's the director of osteopathic medicine, and it is over at LFMR, correct?
SPEAKER_00:Correct, yes.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. And we have never had uh a director of osteopathic medicine over at LFMR. So this is a really big deal. So welcome.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you.
SPEAKER_02:So Central, welcome to Lynchburg.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you.
SPEAKER_02:Um big change in your life. Um why don't you just tell us a little bit about yourself and um and then we can kind of jump in and learn more.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I'm uh an osteopathic family physician. I practiced uh family practice for 25 years. Um I grew up in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, uh in a very rural farming community. Okay um and growing up, uh it was a very underserved area medically.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um I can remember the physician that I went to, um, he always had white hair, so he was an older gentleman from the start. Um and he was extremely busy. Um, but he never said no. And I uh I did ask my my folks the other day, he never took appointments. Um, you could just walk in his office.
SPEAKER_02:Oh wow.
SPEAKER_00:So that's just a different culture, it is, and I I really believe it was purposeful on his part. Yeah, um, and that's why I've always practiced in underserved communities my whole entire career. Um, and that's really what attracted me to um the Lynchburg area.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um to have the opportunity to be involved with, you know, osteopathic uh education, you know, at the graduate level, making doctors who understand um that serving in primary care roles, communities that don't have doctors is really uh my passion is to place good doctors in communities that need them the most. Um, because I I still believe very much that it matters to have a good family doctor.
SPEAKER_02:It really does. And you know, we talk about so many different topics on this podcast, um, and a lot of like highlights of health awareness month. So, you know, it's lung cancer awareness month this month, um, palliative care, hospice care, but then there's you know, breast cancer awareness month, and we talk about new services and new um techniques and new just all the things that are happening in the healthcare world. And in almost every one of those conversations, it says you have to have a relationship with your primary care provider, with a primary care provider. Um, having that relationship is so key to getting ahead of all of the things that are discussed at a higher level. Like, you know, the unfortunately, we have to have a lung cancer awareness month because that is a huge issue. And not to say that it's because people don't talk to the primary care doctor, but having that relationship and being open and honest and someone knowing what's going on in your body, receiving feedback and advice from somebody who is in that clinical role can make such a difference in your life. And and I love what you're saying about underserved areas too, which is interesting that you're Bedford County, Pennsylvania, and we have our Bedford County, Virginia, and it's very similar. You know, this this is a very underserved area. And so I was gonna ask you what drew you to this area, but that definitely answers my question. Um, for those who are listening, because you are um doctor of osteopathic medicine versus what we have a lot, was it which is an MD, and we do have some DOs here at Centra, but how would you explain the difference between osteopathic medicine and then that that traditional MD?
SPEAKER_00:It's it's a question I get quite often. Um, and the answer is is very basic. Um, we are 100% trained equally in modern medical techniques, surgery, um, all specialties as DOs, as our MD colleagues.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:The thing that differentiates uh our profession is our approach to how we practice and deliver health care.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Um being an osteopath is based on four very basic things. Uh, from our founder, you know, Andrew Taylor still in the late 1800s, who was born in Virginia, by the way.
SPEAKER_02:Of course.
SPEAKER_00:Um said that um humans and taking care of humans requires you to understand that we are a mix of mind, body, and spirit. And that you cannot effectively care for someone's health if you don't recognize that we are a combination of all three.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:The second thing that he said was that structure has function, okay, which for the late 1800s was very forward thinking. Yeah. The third thing that he stated was that the body is capable with the proper support to heal itself of most things. Um, and back then, before antibiotics, before the germ theory and all that, that too was very forward-thinking. Um, but he observed people getting better with very little supportive care that the body could heal itself.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, and his fourth statement was that if you're going to care for humans and practice medicine, that your care should be based on those three things every time you encounter a patient. So I tell people being a DO isn't necessarily anything different in 2025 than being an MD, aside from we are taught from the beginning that that approach to patient care and that human connection and that longitudinal relationship and family practice is very important.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And that recognizing that people are much more complicated than their list of medical problems.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:They have a life, they have feelings, they have um spiritual beliefs, um, and that we should encounter them in their space and recognize those things and ask them about their life and how they actually are doing.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_00:Um, so my passion is whether you're an MD, a DO, a nurse practitioner, a physician assistant, my nurse, my receptionist, I really don't care. Um, you can practice osteopathic principles answering the telephone at our clinic. And that's what I hope to bring is that culture. Um and I'll be honest with you, um, I had to pick a team that was already doing much of this in order for this to be successful. And yeah, and when I met the team over at LFMR, um, and as I'm there for my first three weeks and observing, there is a lot of osteopathic principles being practiced there now, yeah, which attracted me to the place.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, and to have the opportunity to be a part of a team as the one trying to bring osteopathic philosophy and osteopathic training track to the residency. Um I pick the right people, the right team.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Well, and it's gotta be helpful that something that is happening um kind of organically, to put intentionality behind it, just think of how much more powerful that's gonna be. These people already have this in them.
SPEAKER_00:They do.
SPEAKER_02:Um, and so is that, would you say that's pretty rare?
SPEAKER_00:In my experience, I wouldn't call it rare, but I can tell you as a patient, not as a doctor, um, whether it be my surgeons that I've had, uh, my own personal family physicians, I've had nurse practitioners care for me and my family. I pick a care delivery. I pick a team of people that I know is engaged with my family's health, with my health, and it's listening and advocating, helping us navigate the healthcare system. Yeah, explaining what other physicians have told them is often our job. Um, and I can tell you that Dr. Nelson uh Madison, our director, program director, um is uh much more osteopathically driven and focused as an MD than a lot of my fellow DOs have been in my career. Oh wow. So um my team, the faculty um at LFMR, I have been so happy um that they've welcomed me to be part of it because it is a very special group of people. Um and I've I'm really trying to get everyone's name. It's a very large place. We have 27 resident physicians.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_00:Um, and um a team of people there from the folks who keep the place clean to the checking in and checking out to our social worker. We have X-ray on site, lab on site, um, OB Care on site. Um, it's just a wonderful, welcoming group of people.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. And it is kind of right in the middle of um the community. It is. It's it's such a great location. Um, and I know I I constantly hear from like mom friends that like, oh, I cannot find a primary care provider anywhere. And I'm like, you need to go up to LFMR.
SPEAKER_01:I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, well, and and I think that, you know, especially it seems to be more um the stigma around mind body um spirit. What were the three?
SPEAKER_00:Mind, body, and spirit.
SPEAKER_02:Mind, body, and spirit. I would say the stigma behind like that full process, because I think for a while there it was kind of like, I don't know, people saw it as taboo for some reason. Um, and I feel like that stigma is dying out, which is really positive. And and people are looking for it. And so, I mean, such a time as this, I will say that.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_02:Um, so are there any or have you encountered any misconceptions about this approach to medicine?
SPEAKER_00:You know, over the years, um, yeah, I would say the biggest, you know, my profession has done itself a disservice with the nomenclature. Um, it's so funny because I I give uh talks and things to different groups of colleagues, and you know, we talk about osteopathic philosophy and principles, we talk about osteopathic medicine, and then we talk about osteopathic manipulative medicine.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Um, OMT or osteopathic manipulative therapy is the hands-on uh manipulation of the spine or someone's back, um, much like a chiropractor, but with a little bit different focus, you know, and technique. Um, it is part of what we learn as osteopaths. It is not um part of every osteopath's practice. Okay. Okay. Um, there are some surgeon colleagues that I've had that will manipulate someone's spine, you know, after surgery. There are many that do not. There are family doctors that incorporate that into their family practice, like myself. Um, I would say that um in addition to, you know, maybe a medication, um, some physical therapy, I would offer you some, you know, manipulation if I thought it would help you. And I would I would do some very simple techniques in the office, in addition to your blood pressure pills, your sugar pills, and everything else. Um, and that's what I hope to bring to the program is the integrative model of using those skills that our osteopaths learn in medical school, um, especially excited about LU being here in town.
SPEAKER_01:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:Um, that they they learn that there's value in taking those skills, further developing those skills in residency, because in primary care, that way, you know, you don't have to send your folks to a physical therapist or a chiropractor to get that manipulated. You can do it while they're there for them. Um, and it has served my patients well. Folks ask me all the time, you know, how often do you do OMT? And I've always been a very busy family doctor. I've always practiced full-scale family medicine. So on any given day in the commercial world, you know, I would on average see 30, 40 patients a day.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_00:Um, and of those, I would say probably 20% of those I would do some osteopathic techniques on. Um and many more would ask, you know, because once you've had that incorporated into your care, it's very helpful and therapeutically beneficial. But um, learning how to do that in the demands of current primary care is something that I hope to bring to the residency and the community so that they continue to offer it uh to patients. And um, in this world of you know, demand exceeding supply, um, in the primary care world, you have to do so efficiently. So we're trying to build a curriculum that will show our residents and teach them how to incorporate it into the visit while the patient is there. It's it's an extremely important tool, um, but you have to be able to do it efficiently.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, I I imagine so. Well, because you are bringing so much more into the appointment.
SPEAKER_00:Correct.
SPEAKER_02:And so, um, I mean, that's a lot of patients in one day. Um, so as you are um really instilling this on the residents, what does that look like, or how is that gonna that this philosophy gonna change their training or impact their training?
SPEAKER_00:I would say in this current environment, our graduates are new physicians coming into practice and our medical students coming into residency. The tides have shifted uh in the in the payer world of medicine um since I started 25 years ago. But I can tell you that the healthcare system is now um focusing on value and they're focusing on outcomes. Easy way to look at that is as a physician, are your patients who have diabetes well controlled? Okay, okay, are your patients that have high blood pressure, are their blood pressures controlled? With electronic medical records, the data is out there now that the folks paying for the care, the insurers, um, Medicare, they now know by provider very specific what we call metrics or numbers on your patient average care. So they know if your diabetics are well taken care of and getting their prevention, they know if your folks are getting their immunizations. So how they're starting to reimburse and pay physicians is based on those outcomes.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So you can see how that would drive a physician to want to do a better job and working with their patient to get better outcomes. Yeah. Okay. But a very, very high bar.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:So as it should be. As it should be.
SPEAKER_00:So it requires you and I, as patient and physician, to team up and work together to keep you up to date on your prevention, to try to prevent disease, and to keep your chronic diseases well controlled. Okay. And there is no better formula for that than osteopathy. None. Because it is it is built upon that relationship that we're gonna really recognize where you live, what your financial status is, what you're actually able to afford to eat, and we're gonna have real conversations about um how we can work together to get your things under control realistically, instead of, you know, just saying the same thing to every patient.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Yeah. Um that really answers my next question of you know, how does strengthening the training for osteopathic medicine really translate into the retention of physicians? I think that this is just going to be such an attractive program. But I'm very curious in your words, especially with Lukon being in the area, um, you know, we are often talking about wanting to train physicians to train here, but come here and stay here. And so, how do you think this will feed into that?
SPEAKER_00:Well, um, I've met with Dean Johnson, um, I've spoken to him multiple times now, and we have a very um collaborative spirit already.
SPEAKER_02:Good, good. That's so good to hear.
SPEAKER_00:Um, they are doing amazing work at LUCOM training students to be physicians. But also, I told him I believe that they're doing a very good job at selecting their students. And I think it's a key part of the process, um, especially for Central Virginia. You know, we have 35% of our folks reaching retirement age in the next five years, and we have 44% deficit in primary care access. So having this medical school in the backyard and having this osteopathic track program here is a win-win for the community because I really believe if you can train the best to be family doctors in this community, and you can have them meet during that three years their general surgeons, their vascular surgeons, their interns, their hospitalist colleagues. Once you build that network, you begin as a physician to rely on your colleagues because it takes a team to take care of people.
SPEAKER_02:It really does.
SPEAKER_00:Um, and the medical community here, um collaborating with us and collaborating with LUCOM, I really feel like we can train physicians here that are the best of the best, that are really patient-focused, um, to stay here because there'll be a comfort level of wanting to work with the colleagues that help train them.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, I can't do my job without every single person on my team, including my obstetricians, my surgeons, my colleagues at the ICU nurses, you know, all of that becomes so important. It it maybe as a patient you don't realize it, but at the end of the day, it helps you as a primary care doctor know that your patients are in good hands because you kind of send them out there and then they come back three months later, and you have to entrust the team that's taking care of them that you're relying upon for the expert opinions.
SPEAKER_01:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:And if we can instill that in our residents, they will stay here and practice.
SPEAKER_02:Yes. And that will strengthen this health system over time. That pipeline. I mean, should we call it a pipeline? Of providers coming and staying and and then the building that collaboration. Yeah. Um, I just see this as such a positive moving forward. It's such a huge impact, not just at LFMR, but yeah, at the whole throughout the whole health system. So what would you like, or what do you think would be important for our patients in our community to really know about this change? Um, and it is a change, but I'm hesitant to call it a change because it's kind of like an evolution of care over at LFMR that should be then kind of bleeding out across the whole health system. So, what would you like patients in our community to know?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I think I'm joining a residency and an organization at LFMR that is already practicing some osteopathic medicine. They've just decided that it's such an Effective care model that they want to put a focus on it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And as a blended residency where we have MDs and DOs, I think that's that's telling because I can tell you sitting here that in the last three weeks, um, every single one of the uh MDs in the building and every single one of the residents has shown a lot of excitement about learning about this philosophy as well. So I feel like the patients in the community need to know that we're there for them.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And that we're starting an OMT clinic at the residency where you can come and actually be seen for musculoskeletal issues from an osteopathic perspective.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Um, and as well as like if you have, you know, chronic back issues from heart issues or lung issues, um, we're gonna be doing that service there now where you can come there specifically for that. Um, so it's just yet another layer of service that the LFMR folks are offering there in the clinic. Um and that you're welcome, irregardless of pair with open arms, you know, at our facility. And that we have the youngest and the most recently trained physicians in the area because we have the resident physicians, which for me is exciting because I go to work and I learn from them every day.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, it's a win-win. Um, and it's it's an environment of uh innovation and learning every single day, and the patients benefit from that. Yeah, there's no doubt.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, there are great things that are coming out of LFMR. I encourage those of you who are listening, um, you can learn more on our website about um Lynchburg. It's funny, I think so many people don't know what we say when we mean LFMR. So Lynchburg Family Medical Residency, and it is um down in like the memorial area, and we'll put all that information in the description for you so that you can check out the location, you can look at the service that are the services that are provided there, um, and then even kind of get to know some of the residents. There's so much on the website. I know that stepping into somewhere new, you want to educate yourself as much as possible. Um, so yeah, go check that out, centralhealth.com. Um, is there anything that um I didn't ask you that you thought think would be important to include?
SPEAKER_00:Um, not really. I think I think we covered the important things.
SPEAKER_02:We really did. Um, I'm excited and welcome. I think this is gonna be such a great partnership.
SPEAKER_00:Appreciate it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and thank you all for watching and so much more. Thank you for joining it. Yeah.
