Published on the monthly Newsletter of the American College of Preventive Medicine, October 2011.
Dr. Valentina Vinante is a visiting Resident physician from Italy. She has been studying Public Health and Preventive Medicine at the University of Florence in Italy. In 2010, she began collaborating with the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center in Derby, Connecticut, where she has been involved with grant writing, research activities and project development mostly focused on obesity prevention. Aside from Dr. Vinante’s research duties, she participates as member of the patient care team at the Integrative Medicine Center at Griffin Hospital and other primary care offices in the area. Her primary focus is nutrition, integrative medicine, women's health and strategies to support and implement behavior modification. She is passionate about classical music and Eastern philosophies. She enjoys yoga, skiing and being in nature.
Why did you choose Preventive Medicine as a career?
A Chinese proverb says "The superior doctor prevents sickness; The mediocre doctor attends to impending sickness; The inferior doctor treats actual sickness". My goal is not to become a superior doctor; rather, my goal is to prevent people from suffering as much as possible. During the 6th year of my medical school training, while doing my clinical internships and rotations, I often felt frustrated. My biggest question was not only how to cure the patient, but most of all how to prevent them from suffering. I couldn’t stand the idea that most of the disease I was seeing could be prevented, but I couldn’t do anything. I had to find a way to do something effective. That’s when I discovered Preventive Medicine.
Preventive medicine means applying the education and philosophy of life that I’ve used throughout my life. I am lucky because I grew up in a very healthy family. Once, while I was jogging with my father, he said to me, "I may lose everything, but I will do everything not to lose my health. My investments in the future are this run, my food and the fact that I am not smoking….” My Grandpa, a super healthy 91 year-old-man, keeps the same mentality. He cycles for one and a half hours a day and keeps a very strict diet. With these kinds of examples how can I not believe and practice Preventive Medicine?
In addition, since starting medical school, one of my dreams has been to collaborate with the WHO. I came to see the factors determining the state of health of a person go far beyond the individual/person. I discovered in order to be a complete doctor I had to study public health to learn how to intervene on a larger scale and have a greater impact.
What are your future goals?
On the one hand, I would love to work as a preventive medicine clinician mostly focusing on women’s health, but on the other side, I’d love to practice preventive medicine and public health on a larger scale. At the current moment, I am getting more and more interested in lifestyle medicine. For all the preventive medicine doctors who want to continue their career working with patients, prescribing lifestyle medicine is essential. The biggest challenge is helping people change their behavior.
Why women’s health?
I wrote my dissertation on early diagnosis of endometriosis in adolescence. I loved being in the department of OB/GYN. What I have noticed is women start to talk about prevention when they are pregnant. But what about adolescence, what about older women with chronic diseases or cancer? I love working with and for women. They are a key figure in our society. It is my observation that if a woman works on her health, the whole family will tend to live a healthier lifestyle.
Which projects have you enjoyed working on the most?
When I look back at the last few years, I see how amazing they have been and am overwhelmed by how much I’ve learned. From being part of a big project aimed at decreasing the rate of voluntary abortions in immigrant women in Tuscany to my last rotation at the Yale PRC, I have really enjoyed my work. I have specifically enjoyed working with Dr. David Katz, the director of the PRC. While there, I took part in grant-writing and studies focused on childhood obesity. I also developed a few interesting projects that I hope will have a great impact on the population. One such project is ABE for Fitness (
http://abeforfitness.com/index.html). It is a video-library of 3 to 8 minute evidence-based physical activity bursts that can be done anywhere. Another project I really enjoyed working on is the National Exchange for Weight Loss Resistance (
www.newlr.com) - a platform and registry to better understand weight loss resistance and obesity. Dr. Katz was, and still is, a great role model for me. Along with my rotation duties, I am also involved in the activity of a small non-profit organization called Engera (
www.engera.org) operating in Ethiopia. Through this organization, I spent a few weeks in Ethiopia working in a small clinic, and I am now involved in projects to improve the quality of the health care service.
Do you see any difference in between practicing preventive medicine in Italy and in the US?
Yes I do. In Italy we have a universal health care system. Preventive Medicine is fully in the hands of family doctors and the department of preventive medicine within the health care system. This system guarantees every citizen is supported throughout the network for preventing disease and living a better lifestyle. Preventive medicine doctors normally work in the department of preventive medicine, choosing to work mostly on large public health projects. They generally do not see patients.
Do you, as a preventive medicine physician, practice what you preach?
I strongly believe a preventive medicine doctor should lead by example. I try to workout at least 3 times a week. I eat healthy, do yoga and meditate. I know with a healthy lifestyle I can achieve more and enjoy a more full and satisfying life.
