Hey there!
Thanks for stopping by- I hope you’ll take a look around. All the interesting stuff is in the blog, but if you want to know a bit about me, here ya go.
My name is Victoria, and I’m a board certified Family Physician. I started this blog when I was an MD/PhD student in the clinical years of my degree. My background includes an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Rutgers University, and MD/PhD from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School ( with a PhD in Pharmacology and Physiology, studying the effects of chronic alcohol consumption on signal transduction in the liver), and completed by residency training in Family Medicine at the University of Utah Department of Family and Preventive Medicine in Salt Lake City, Utah. .
I like to look at everything through the lenses of evolutionary biology. I was raised in a house with more pictures of Charles Darwin than of my grandparents (true story), and my middle name pays homage to the geologist Charles Lyell. Evolution has always been in my genes on and my mind.
I’m fascinated by the natural world, with a deep love of science. I enjoy thinking about biological principles and mechanisms especially in an evolutionary light. Biology is marvelously complex, but while understanding the details and intricacies is fascinating (and vital for the understanding of human health and disease), I believe that the greatest benefit comes from first considering the broadest aspects of our evolutionary past so we can best understand our interactions in the modern world.
The phrase ‘benchtop to bedside’ is sometimes used to describe the role of physician-scientist MD/PhD. I prefer a slightly wider approach- converting broad scientific principles into practical applications for better health. What I write about here are my ramblings, musings, and general thoughts on a broad range of topics, loosely focused around my interests in preventative medicine and primary care practice, always casting an eye towards the evolutionary pressures that brought us to where we are today.
Here’s a collection of some of my favorite posts.
You can follow me on Twitter or Instagram, if you’re so inclined or follow this blog on Facebook.
Of course this blog is for educational purposes only.
Enjoying some quality time on the farm.
principleintopractice 
Tried to leave a comment but is seems it did not get through. I’ll try again if this one makes it!
Regards,
Phil
Hi Victoria,
I just commented on your “Pop a Squat” post, but wanted to mention another subject you may find of interest: Earthing. In case you don’t know about it, please visit earthinginstitute.net. Earthing fits right into your evolutionary biology and preventive medicine orientation.
If you want to try it out, you can make your own earthing device, and avoid the expensive commercial units. The instructions are at http://www.wikihow.com/Make-an-Earthing-Device. I think it would do wonders to help you through the weird schedule a med student has to endure. Good luck!
~ Jonathan
you should add wholehealthsource and the daily lipid to your blogroll, the two best blogs imo, and coincidentally the first two blogs i started reading that got me on this track…keep it up!
Agreed- excellent sources! I’m also a fan of hyperlipid…
I love the connection between your family name, Prince, and your blog name. Very clever. And appropriate. 🙂
Heh- thanks! Since I don’t put my last name on the blog (though it’s associated with the attached twitter account and many people link with my full name so one day I’ll finally just out myself on the blog), I sometimes wonder how many people get the double entendre!
wholehealthsource and hyperlipid arent getting along; someone’s not being nice
in your opinion, how soon do you think evo/functional med will penetrate fully the doctors and big pharma sponsored school systems
how many of your fellow classmates %wise do you see doing the type of investigation you’re doing? I know some med students and they don’t look into this stuff (ignorance is bliss)
When will evo/functional med fully penetrate out medical system? Probably never, but maybe I’m a cynic. But there is progress.
I find that my classmates are generally interested in ideas that I put forth. Doing the kinds of “investigations” I do (sounds much more profesional than “mental masturbation”, which might be closer to the truth ) isn’t what MDs are trained to do… The point of medical school isn’t to question and critique how we treat people, but to learn to diagnose and treat. Yes, we are supposed to understand why we do what we do, but understanding the rationale behind something (even something that isn’t necessarily rational) isn’t the same as really critiquing the method.
People are interested in evolutionary mechanisms in medicine. I’ve met one med student and one future med student who have taken a course in evolutionary medicine as an undergraduate- both have said it was the best course of their undergraduate career (it was actually at the university where I went to college. Apparently the professor recently retired (how I would love to take over that lecturing position!)). Some of the attending physicians are familiar with some of the things I write about, and things like fecal transplants are catching on…
Changes are afoot in the medical community. Just yesterday an article came out showing how banning pharma-reps from academic institutions changes new physicians prescription habits: http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/Ethics/37131 This is the policy in my institution, and is changing the interaction between pharmaceutical companies and physicians.
Also- there are other medical students who are passionate about ancestral/evolutionary health. Angela Arbach, who write a guest post on this blog (https://principleintopractice.com/2012/11/25/guest-post-observations-from-the-field/ ) is another example, and I’m sure she and I are not the only two!
Of course pharma-reps should be banned from academic (medical) institutions – in a somewhat similar way at the community college I teach at we banned military recruiters.
What would you change, if you could, in how MD’s are trained? Bluntly, I have found little help and if I took the advice – and some sure did use nasty scare tactics – of neuros years ago, they would have made me more toxic.
I’ll tell you as a lay person what we must have added to the curriculum – study heavy metal toxicity and nutrition. The only thing uncommon about me is I know – I knew ‘MS’ was and has always been mercury poisoning. Unfortunately too many of us are poisoned by dental amalgams and it’s a long, slow process to chelate this evil metal out of us.
Tell your classmates to learn this. Go beyond their basic training and learn what many of us really need. And for good measure, understand that candida overgrowth is a very real problem – esp. those of us with heavy metal toxicity – not just those unfortunate souls with AIDS (seriously – that’s what my Kaiser doc told me was the only patients they help with candida).
-E.
Hi, I’ve been a long-time reader of your and just wanted to share something? Please email me back. Thanks!
Hi I am a GP from the UK about to publish on the benefits of a low-carb high-fat diet to improve liver function and I would like to send you a summary for your interest
I have been elevating my knees / squatting to poop for years!
I had my first bout of diverticulosis/ festering diverticula in August 2015,
Again in January 2016 and yet again in mid February…
So I’m not sure if squatting is the answer. But I am open to your
Opinions,
Ps this has all been diagnosed with CT scan
Sincerely
Gary
Regarding your comments on xenophobia…i see little evidence of this hatred of people different than us.in fact i find that to be a ridiculous statement, look around u, america is likely the most multicultural and diverse nation on the world. To demean those of us with a rational fear of importing the huge problems facing europe due to massive waves immigrants. By labeling us as racist or xenophobic for beingvrational is beyond the pale. The only visceral response i see is yours towards people that think differently than you.