Hidden Gems: Meet Dr. Dave Gordon of 4 Pillars Health and Wellness

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Dave Gordon.

Hi Dr. Gordon, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started saying I wanted to be a doctor as early as second grade, no doubt influenced by my grandfather who was a primary care physician. I achieved that goal opening up a new primary care practice in 2003, right out of residency. While my path to becoming a physician wasn’t always easy, it was fairly predictable. What wasn’t predictable, however, was how my career in medicine would evolve from the day I opened my practice. Pretty quickly, I learned the approaches I was taught in my training were insufficient to help patients achieve great health. In fact, most treatments didn’t address the root causes of disease, were just band-aids with few long-term benefits, and which often created more problems than they helped. Acknowledging this forced me to learn better ways to help my patients and led me into the world of integrative and functional medicine. For 15 years, I saw patients in my primary care practice and used these evidence-based, common sense, holistic philosophies to achieve amazing results.

My career took another unexpected turn in 2018 when I decided to close my primary care practice. It was the most difficult decision I’ve ever made in my life. There wasn’t one specific reason, and in many ways it was just a gut instinct that told me it was something I needed to do. But like every experience and turn in our lives, it was a huge impact on where I am today. I didn’t have a specific plan after closing and just followed whatever breadcrumbs I found in front of me. Following those paths have led me to many places; my professional life today reflects that diversity and now includes patient care, consulting, patient and practitioner education, medical directing, and even being a college teacher. These roles allow me to teach others what I have learned about health and disease over the past 25 years and bring valuable, evidenced-based integrative approaches into the mainstream.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I don’t think it’s ever smooth. However, I do want to acknowledge first the many gifts, blessings and privileges I’ve had along the way which I know is not the same for many others. I’m a straight, white, cis-gendered male in America born into a family with two parents and sufficient financial means. That gave me a huge head start. I and my family have also been lucky to have avoided major traumas in our lives. I write this days after Hurricane Ian decimated parts of Florida and Cuba, shortly after another storm brought destruction to Puerto Rico so the blessings of things I’ve avoided are forefront.

But privilege and luck isn’t enough to make everything a cakewalk. I’ve struggled with emotional health issues throughout my life; anxiety, depression and struggles with self-confidence and self-compassion have commonly been with me. Thankfully, I know many ways to work on this, but it’s still never easy.

Another big struggle can best be summarized by the phrase “swimming upstream.” Early on, I learned the traditional dogma supported by our medical industrial complex simply doesn’t work well to address chronic disease and achieve great health. I learned integrative and functional medicine philosophies and approaches which enabled me to provide amazing care. However, it’s constantly a struggle when you practice outside the scope of traditional care. You’re frequently belittled directly and indirectly by mainstream physicians, academics and politicians. You’re called a “quack.” Even though I know, I am doing the best things for my career and my patients, it’s exhausting and isolating. It was especially challenging for me, already having issues with self-confidence.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
While I now have a diverse range of professional activities, one-on-one, personalized patient care remains my cornerstone. The bottom line is that many people are struggling with their health. They recognize that conventional medicine doesn’t offer what they need but then are overwhelmed with all the information in the health-o-sphere, whether it involves cannabis therapies, vitamins and supplements, nutrition, or the other range of integrative therapies. I have over 20 years of experience working with patients and working on my own health journey. I’m not selling anything other than my time, knowledge and experience. I provide a place with individuals can get honest, evidence-based information to help them achieve whatever health goals they have.

I’m extremely unique amongst integrative and cannabis practitioners. First, I’m conventionally trained as an MD which is rare in the integrative medicine space. This allows me to better understand how cannabis or other integrative therapies can work alongside conventional treatments. In the cannabis space, it’s rare to find someone with extensive experience in the greater world of integrative health. Many physicians enter the cannabis space, thinking of it as just another medication, whereas I always look at it as just one piece of an integrative approach that always includes the 4 Pillars — food, movement, relaxation and community.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I go through phases but there are a few that stand out. I’ll spare you the ones where I just keep up on the Mets and UCLA sports.

I believe it’s valuable to understand the lived experiences of others, and while I haven’t listened to it for a couple of years, This American Life podcast was really helpful understanding a wide range of topics through the others’ points of view.

As someone with inherent privilege in the US, I’ve tried to learn about the experience of African Americans as best I could. All the books from Ibram X Kendi were extremely helpful but especially Stamped from the Beginning. Layla Saad’s Me and White Supremacy was also a very powerful read and journey.

The Serial Podcast series was also a both enjoyable and illuminating set of seasons that really gave me amazing information into different topics.

I’ve enjoyed Dr. Laurie Santos’ The Happiness Lab Podcast. It really gives good insight into how the brain works and discussed a wealth of valuable tools for one’s emotional health.

The Art of Solitude by Stephen Batchelor taught me a lot about accepting myself and where I was in the world.

The podcasts and blogs of Chris Kresser are thorough dives into various topics within the functional medicine space, though can be a lot of information for those without a strong background.

In the cannabis world, I look to Dr. Dustin Sulak at www.healer.com. He’s an amazing teacher and source of information. His website, webinars, and book are all great resources.

Finally, for wonderful background on the history of cannabis and how it intertwines with so many other aspects of life including social justice, family, friendship, and health, the podcast Great Moments in Weed History is one of my favorites. It’s definitely created for those that are passionate about cannabis for social/recreational consumption but even if you’re not, it’s a fun listen with amazing information.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.4pillarsdenver.com
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