Dr Bernard Brom is a medical doctor who has spent his life finding ways to help the body in its innate ability to heal, supporting health rather  than just treating disease. In this quest he has explored widely the connections between body, mind and spirit. He has recently published a book Healthy Medicine (2017). He is retired from active practice but continues to research better ways to heal. He lives in Cape Town and among other things teaches doctors his experience of 35 years in Integrative Medicine, as well as giving talks to the people who are eager to learn.

Dr Bernard Brom qualified as a medical doctor in 1965. While specialising in gastroenterology he became dissatisfied with medicine and his lifestyle and in 1971 gave up medicine and travelled around the world in a VW kombi for almost 6 years.

He returned to South Africa and started an integrative medical practice. He became a specialist in the non-drug treatment of ill-health, and studied Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), herbal medicine and homeopathy. He realised that conventional medicine’s focus on disease had moved doctors away from lifestyle management and how to support health.

He immersed himself in exploring how a person becomes ill and how to support the person back to health. This meant shifting the focus away from the disease model and the use of drugs towards lifestyle and supporting health medicine. His approach was that while treating the disease and symptomatic approaches using drugs had their place, it needed to be within a model of medicine that was much more supportive to health improvement.

Dr Brom was chairman of the South African Acupuncture Medical Association and the founder and chairman of the South African Society of Integrative Medicine (SASIM).  He was also one of the founders and the first Chairman of the Traditional and Natural Health Alliance, an organisation working towards a balanced and appropriate regulatory process for natural products.

He has written extensively on integrative medicine, both in medical journals and in his monthly newsletters. He founded the Journal of Natural Medicine in 2000.

His non-medical interests include walking in nature, growing organic vegetables, deep discussion on the meaning of life and his own inner spiritual journey.

To subscribe to Dr Brom’s monthly newsletters for professionals, drop us an email at info@creatinghealth.co.za.