April 2025 President’s Message
Docs should help prevent disease not just manage it
by Jany Moussa, MD —
As physicians, we dedicate our lives to healing. Yet despite our advancements in medicine, we often fall short in one crucial area: preventing disease before it starts.
The reality is that our healthcare system is built primarily to treat illness rather than to stop it in its tracks. We wait for hypertension, diabetes and heart disease to appear — then we prescribe medications, schedule procedures and manage complications. But by the time we intervene, the damage is often already done.
One of the biggest culprits behind this failure is the American diet. What we eat is arguably the single most important factor in our long-term health, yet as a society we do a terrible job at prioritizing nutrition. Ultra-processed foods, excessive sugar and unhealthy fats dominate our meals, fueling the very diseases we work so hard to treat. Instead of teaching people how to eat for longevity, we rely on medications to compensate for poor dietary habits.
Consider this: We know that a plant-rich, whole-food diet can significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity and even certain cancers. We have overwhelming evidence that lifestyle choices — especially nutrition — can prevent or delay the onset of chronic disease. Yet how often do we see meaningful, system-wide efforts to address this? Our medical education dedicates shockingly little time to nutrition, and our policies continue to favor reactive care over proactive prevention.
As medical professionals, we must ask ourselves: How can we do better? How do we shift from a system that primarily manages disease to one that truly prevents it? The answer isn’t simple, but it starts with awareness, advocacy and a renewed focus on education — both for ourselves and our patients.
MSSC has several programs aimed at improving health by improving nutrition. Health ICT has worked with providers to identify patients who were pre-diabetes and refer them to educational programs on cooking and eating more healthy foods. It currently is working with two clinics on addressing social needs of patients, including connecting food-insecure patients with food resources.
The Health & Wellness Coalition, another MSSC program, has spearheaded initiatives aimed at helping low-income families access fresh produce. Other projects with a healthy-food focus include Pathways to a Healthy Kansas and the Food Secure Community Initiative.
Some MSSC members and clinics already promote good nutrition and take a holistic approach to patient care. HealthCore Clinic, for example, offers a “Food Is Medicine” program in which low-income patients receive free boxes of food specific to addressing their medical condition, such as diabetes or hypertension.
If we want to change the future of medicine, more of us need to change our approach to health itself. That means emphasizing prevention, prioritizing nutrition and challenging the norms that have led us to this point. We owe it to our patients, our communities and the generations to come.
Let’s start the conversation. Let’s lead by example. And let’s work together to build a future where medicine isn’t just about treating disease — it’s about preventing it in the first place.