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by Geeta MD Maker-Clark (Author)
How can we be healthy in a world shaped by disconnection and injustice? And what if the medicines we need to heal have always been within and around us?
Dr. Geeta Maker-Clark--integrative medicine physician, thought leader, and activist--describes a profound reimagining of what medicine can be: a vision where ancestral wisdom, scientific evidence, and a commitment to equity come together in service of healing. She reveals how extractive food and health care systems have co-opted our awareness of our natural, deep intelligence and connectedness--contributing to the disproportionate burden of chronic disease in communities that have been historically excluded from resources and power. These conditions are not simply the result of individual choices, but of structural forces that shape access to nourishment, safety, and care. In response, Medicine for All People guides readers back to medicines that are both ancient and urgently relevant: culturally rooted foods, nature-based and gratitude practices that regulate the nervous system, dance and embodied movement that supports neuroplasticity and joy, and meaningful connection that restores a sense of belonging. Integrating these powerful, freely available medicines into our daily lives creates a path for individuals and communities to move toward sustainable health and radical social change. "Dr. Geeta Maker-Clark carries forward the essential work of redefining health care for our times. Through her vast clinical experience, beautifully shared with clarity, compassion, and scientific grounding, she invites us to see medicine not as a narrow set of interventions, but as a living system rooted in nourishment, ancestral connection, and care. A must-read."--Dr. Andrew Weil, #1 New York Times-bestselling author and founder of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of ArizonaAuthor Biography
Dr. Geeta Maker-Clark is director of Integrative Nutrition and Advocacy at Endeavor Health in Chicago, clinical assistant professor at Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago, and co-director of the Culinary Medicine project, one of the first of its kind in the country. A nationally known and sought-after speaker, she is founder of multiple food justice programs and projects, including the Food is Power program in Chicago Public Schools teaching decolonized nutrition education and food justice to middle schoolers. She has also become a pioneering voice in using dance as a medicine to prevent neurodegenerative disease and to inspire instant energy and joy.
Dr. Maker-Clark has worked as a family physician for over twenty-five years providing full-spectrum family medicine, high-risk obstetrics, and integrative medicine as part of her practice. Her integrated and holistic view of health stems from many years of medical and spiritual training from thought leaders and healers around the globe. She's worked in communities as a social activist and organizer with migrant farm workers in Ventura, CA; Indigenous people in Northeastern Brazil; fishing villagers on the East coast of India; citizen activists at Standing Rock; and thousands of patients in the inner city of Chicago. She received her MD from Rush Medical College in Chicago, completing a family medicine residency, an obstetrics fellowship, and an integrative medicine fellowship with Dr. Andrew Weil in the years following. She holds certifications in yoga instruction, functional nutrition, and culinary medicine. She is also a professional dancer with a prolific African diasporic dance and drum company in Chicago.
