ASK Dr. James McMinn of First Care Wellness your medical questions - Click the link below! ASK the Doctor is a non-emergency email question format, so please do not request a call back. If you have a question that you think may warrant seeing a doctor and are not sure if you should be concerned, use the form to send the doctor an email and ask him. Also questions regarding diet and nutrition, healthy lifestyles, and alternative treatments are welcome!
If what follows is your typical doctor visit, read on to experience the doctor with a difference! ASK Dr. McMinn your questions using the link above.
"Doc, I have a pain right here. I have -" The doctor interrupts with, "Take two of these three times a day, and I'll see you in a week." You nod, take the prescription and leave, hopeful that the miracle pills will work. Walking to your car, you feel a little...dismissed. I didn't even get to tell him why I'm in pain; hope that wasn't important. You reason that doctors are busy, and they are, after all, DOCTORS, so we must respect them and let them get to the next patient, right?
How many times have you wanted a doctor who will listen, then maybe even talk with you about possible causes, solutions, and preventions?
Dr. James McMinn, First Care
There's a new kind of doctor in town. Dr. James McMinn is a Board Certified doctor who began First Care in Homewood with 20 years of medical practice experience. "We emphasize communication, and compassion with a holistic approach. Instead of treating everything with one-size-fits-all solutions, we try to focus on the root of the problem." Dr. McMinn fully embraces the concept and practice of complementary and functional medicine. Listening to each patient, his goal is to partner with the patient to develop a plan that is thorough, evidence-based, and outcomes-oriented. Touted as a “Healthcare Futurist,” by some, he continues to aspire to provide innovative Functional Medicine approaches to his practice at First Care Wellness. He is a strong advocate for prevention, and although well-versed in traditional western medicines, he also has an open mind toward alternative modalities. "I have one foot in the box (of western medicines), and one foot out of the box. There are good drugs out there, useful, helpful, but the body also offers enormous healing. Looking at the root causes of a problem instead of the symptoms can often suggest an alternative approach. I am basically a scientist at heart. I want to know what is going to help the patient?"
Prevention and holistic health are the fundamental goals for patients seen at First Care and Dr. McMinn offers supportive approaches, such as intensive vitamin therapy, along with optional bio-feedback and/or relaxation audio tapes, in order to optimize wellness for some patients. Viewing himself as a “ healthcare coach,” Dr. McMinn partners with and guides patients toward achieving their health goals and considers patient education a cornerstone of his medical approach. Currently, he is adding another “first,” by providing a unique concept known as “Shared Medical Appointments,” which originated on the west coast, gaining in popularity, by allowing patients ample time with their physician. First Care Wellness group appointments, will include bio-identical hormone balancing, and a weight management clinic.
Treatment is a customized approach based on the individual patient's needs. It's not a low-tech approach either. Some of the therapies used at First Care are cutting edge technologies, such as Breast Thermography. A quick, comfortable, non-invasive, radiation-free procedure, the patient sits in front of a camera that takes high definition images that may detect risks of cancer at earlier stages. The images are analyzed by certified MDs, and it is completely painless! As of this writing, Dr. McMinn is the only practice in Birmingham offering the technique, Thermography, which he has been doing for about 4 months. This is a first for Birmingham and is one of two FDA-approved breast cancer screening methods and the only one which is totally painless and radiation-free. (The other FDA-approved method is mammography.) Recently, he was interviewed by Fox News, in a feature story about the breast cancer screening tool (http://www.myfoxal.com:80/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=5950114&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.5.1)
A fundamental focus of Dr. McMinn's medical practice at First Care Wellness is patient education. For more info about free seminars and his book club, The Wellspring Connection, click here.
Dr. McMinn moved to Birmingham from Boston with his wife and children, to be near his parents. "They retired near Ft. McClellan, and we wanted the kids to grow up with their grandparents. We love Birmingham!"
Breast Thermography
For more information, or to schedule an appointment, call First Care Wellness Medicine at 205.868.1313. Visit their website at www.FirstCareWellness.net, and let them know you saw it at MagicCityMoments.com!
