David Rakel, MD

Learn more about Dr. Rakel’s work with UW Health »

Education

• Baylor College of Medicine – MD
• University of Arizona – Integrative Medicine Fellowship
• Colorado College – BA

Bio

David Rakel, MD (he/him/his) is professor and chair of the University of Wisconsin Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. Rakel joined DFMCH faculty in 2001. He founded the integrative health program (now known as the Osher Center for Integrative Health at University of Wisconsin-Madison) and received the Gold Foundation’s Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, the school’s highest honor for excellence and compassion in care. His team worked with more than 50 clinical systems within the Veterans Health Administration to implement changes to make care more personalized, proactive, and patient driven.

An author of both academic and popular writings, one of Rakel’s missions is to communicate medical information in a way that is accessible to people of all backgrounds. He has published eleven books, including the Textbook of Family Medicine, Current Therapy, and Integrative Medicine, as well as peer-reviewed research on the impact of measures such as mindfulness meditation and the power of the therapeutic encounter. He serves as editor in chief of Practice Update, a website devoted to commentaries on primary medical care research. His 2018 book The Compassionate Connection focuses on how relationship-building can influence health outcomes.

Clinical Interests

Rakel’s clinical and teaching interest include integrative medicine, nutrition, and mind-body influences to reduce polypharmacy; the therapeutic ceremony and how human relationships can enhance health outcomes; defining interprofessional primary care teams engaged with the health needs of the community they serve; and salutogenic science, which explores strategies to achieve health outcomes to reduce the demand for acute and catastrophic care.

Research Interests

Rakel’s research interests include:

• The clinician effect and non-specific influences on health
• Innovations in primary care delivery
• Salutogenic science

Publications and Presentations

• PubMed
• Senior Editor: Textbook of Family Medicine 8^th, 9^th and 10^th editions, Elsevier Medical Publishing
• Senior Editor: Integrative Medicine 1-5^th editions, Elsevier Medical Publishing
• Editor in Chief: Primary Care PracticeUpdate.com
• Rakel D. The Compassionate Connection: The Healing Power of Empathy and Mindful Listening. W.W. Norton & Company; 2018.

Invited Lectureships

• Rakel D. The Jack Cogan Memorial Lecture, Harvard University, Osher Center for Integrative Medicine.
• Rakel D. The Roy Elam Memorial Lectureship, Vanderbilt University
• Rakel D. The Sischy Honorary Lectureship in Humane Medicine. The University of Rochester
• Rakel D. The Sam and Elizabeth Nixon Honorary Lectureship in Family Medicine. The University of Texas, Houston.
• Rakel D. The Dr. Khushman V. Sanghvi Memorial Lectureship. University of Cincinnati Department of Family Medicine and Community Health.
• Rakel D. The Marcel and Josephine Patterson Memorial Lecture in Family Medicine and Jesse B. Heath Lectureship in Family Medicine. University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston, TX.

Awards and Honors

• Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award – Arnold P. Gold Foundation
• President’s Award – New Mexico Academy of Family Physicians
• Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society