Why we're here.

In 2012, before my education and clinical training, I suffered a life changing traumatic brain injury (concussion). Due to the limitation in specialized concussion care at the time, I remained hopeless for 9 months wondering why I wasn't getting better. I was told by numerous medical specialties that with time I would heal, but that I may have to re-think my future with respect to higher education, playing collegiate hockey, and most importantly my future career. Hearing this narrative from numerous healthcare providers left me hopeless.

 

Luckily, through our own efforts, my family and I were able to find specialists in neurological rehabilitation - some of the world's best. But this support wasn't easily accessible. I had to travel across North America to receive this care.

 

At the time, the care I received was groundbreaking but generally frowned upon by the mainstream medical community because it was contrary to the current brain injury management strategies in healthcare. It was pushing the envelope of what we knew about brain health and human performance. Using intensive assessment and quantification of various measures of brain and physical function, they were able to identify the why behind my symptoms, and create a rounded rehabilitation strategy to get my life back. As a patient, seeing the results of the tests provided validation for how I was feeling, but also left me wondering why these things weren't more accessible.  

 

Including everything from nutrition, targeted brain rehabilitation, sport specific training, physical rehabilitation and mindset, I was finally able to see and feel the progress eventually returning to school, sport and most importantly a normal life. Expert knowledge, attention to detail, and compassionate care are the things that I stuck with me about the doctors who helped me.

 

Now and not surprisingly we're seeing published scientific evidence to support similar strategies and interventions for people dealing with brain injuries. These assessment and management strategies are also used to optimize human performance, and are becoming more widely used in the healthcare and professional sport industry.

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Twelve years after my injury and inspired by the doctors who helped me, I am now trying to try to break the status quo, but in a slightly different way. With higher education in sport and exercise medicine, rehabilitation, performance and clinical neuroscience, my team and I are equipped to provide educational services and resources to help you understand how to optimize your neurological and physical health now and as you age. Similar to concussion management over a decade ago, these services aren't readily accessible on scale. Therefore, my mission is to better serve my patients by using my past experience and subsequent education to help you optimize your health, for the long term.​

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Why this matters:

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In Canada, we are blessed with a public healthcare system. However, this comes with limitations. First, it is largely reactive, meaning it's challenging to receive preventive testing and care if we are healthy. It's my opinion that you shouldn't be prevented from taking the initiative when it comes to your health.

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Second, we know that the chronic diseases that plague our society and overwhelm our healthcare systems are largely preventable. These include cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and various musculoskeletal disorders like back and neck pain. Not only are these conditions preventable, but there are ample ways to detect these disease processes early before we reach the arbitrary threshold of diagnosis. There are also now evidence-based strategies and interventions to prevent the onset or progression of such conditions.  Wouldn't it be nice to get ahead of all this?

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What we're doing different:

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With the internet, artificial intelligence and social media, it can be challenging to grasp what information is legitimate, evidence-based, and appropriate for you. Our goal is to provide you with the knowledge you need about the most important considerations for long-term health and performance. Through our educational e-modules we will provide you with a foundational understanding of our 5 Pillars of Health. These are the Pillars that contribute the greatest to sustainable physical and neurological health. After learning about the Pillars you will not only understand what truly matters for long-term health and performance, but you will also be more effective at communicating with other members of your healthcare team about the topics regarding your health. Health self-efficacy is a necessary component to truly optimize your experience with your healthcare system and its providers.

 

My team and I will also be rolling out online telehealth services focused on optimizing physical and neurological longevity and performance. These services are targeted towards motivated individuals who are looking for guidance for how to better eat, train, live and interact with their environment, habitually. The beauty about these strategies are that they are applicable for folks who already have one or more non-communicable disease (e.g., high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, back pain, osteoarthritis) while also being relevant for athletes or executives looking to gain the extra 1% out of their lives.

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All in all, our mission is to serve you - the patient. To serve you in a meaningful way and help you write your own story in life. To serve you similarly to the doctors who helped me.

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Andrew

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