There’s a new student club for National University DC students in Florida.The Functional Medicine and Clinical Neurology Club (FMCN) plans activities that provide advanced knowledge and training in clinical neurology and functional medicine.

Topical meetings use National’s curriculum as a foundation, and show specific examination techniques. The club meetings are split in half, with the first half offering didactic training, and the second half providing an opportunity for hands-on evaluation and management.

Functional medicine relies on the use of advanced testing from blood, saliva, hair and urine, along with conventional blood testing. These give a physician more information about the physiology of the patient, the root cause of their condition, and which therapies may be more appropriate.  Functional medicine also promotes nutritional, botanical, dietary, and lifestyle changes that are more specific to the patient’s needs. With an emphasis on preventive medicine, it can also better evaluate risks for future disease and offer interventions.

“Our club is also about learning how to increase your diagnostic skills and improve treatments by gaining a more in-depth comprehension of how all systems relate to the nervous system,” says FMCN club president, Alid Perez III. “The bottom line is that knowing the nervous system well, and how all other metabolic activities relate to it, can help us in a clinical setting.”

The students that attend club meetings are usually interested in post-graduate training and future chiropractic diplomate education in either neurology or internal disorders.

“The club activities really complement the active learner-based experiences we are implementing in the classroom,” says faculty advisor, Dr. Chris Arick. “It will give our NUHS students another edge in becoming highly skilled diagnosticians.”