Welcome to the Foundational IBD Course!
Building the foundation for confident IBD management starts here.Â
The Foundational IBD Course is a 9-module, self-paced online introduction to Inflammatory Bowel Disease and comprehensive, evidence-led approach to care that bridges conventional medicine with proven integrative therapies.
Take Control of Your IBD Journey
The Foundational IBD Course and Forum provide the knowledge, tools, and community you need to take control of your health.
Information You Can Trust
The information presented in the course is grounded in scientific research and years of clinical experience, ensuring you get reliable, proven strategies you can trust.
The Full IBD Story
Over 10 hours of expert-led, information-rich content covers every aspect of integrative IBD care from diagnostics to emerging treatments.
Practical Information You Can Use…
and Refer to Any Time
Downloadable resources, tracking tools, and step-by-step guides help you apply what you learn immediately.
Make the Most of Your Doctor Visits
Gain knowledge to help you understand the science and form the best questions to ask your health care team about integrative approaches.
Supportive Community
The Foundational IBD Forum is an online IBD-friendly community where you can connect with others who get it… patients and care-givers ready to listen and share stories and learning in a safe, moderated forum.
Living With IBD Shouldn't Be This Hard
If you're struggling with inflammatory bowel disease—Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, or other less common forms— you know the challenges all too well...Â
- Lost Freedom: You've given up activities you love because of bathroom anxiety, pain, and fatigue, severely impacting your quality of life.
Feeling Isolated: Friends and family try to understand, but you know they don’t. You lack a community of people who truly grasp and respect what you're going through. - Constant Uncertainty: You've tried multiple treatments, but still experience unpredictable flares that disrupt your life and leave you feeling powerless.Â
- Medication Concerns: You may feel unsure about your medications due to alarming information online, limited time with your doctor, or feeling dismissed when raising concerns. Yet you also recognize their importance in managing IBD and want to weigh the risks carefully.
- Conflicting Advice that's Hard to Trust: Searching online yields conflicting advice from questionable sources, making it impossible to separate science from pseudoscience.Â
- Dismissive Healthcare: You may feel dismissed by healthcare providers when you raise questions about diet, supplements, and lifestyle, leaving you to experiment on your own without scientific guidance.
Brought to you by...
Drs. Natalie Scheeler, Mark Davis,and Claudia Bustamante
With over 20 years of combined clinical experience treating thousands of patients, we bring expertise and a deep understanding of the patient journey. We are committed to empowering patients to best manage their lives and care. Our approach is grounded in science, years of clinical practice, and an unwavering respect for our patients' right to understand and help inform care they can trust.Â
Course Curriculum
A comprehensive approach to managing your IBD through evidence-based integrative strategies.
- Module 1: Introduction to IBD. Start here! Learn what IBD is and how it develops. Meet the Foundational Medicine team, explore our integrative approach, how to navigate the course, and get familiar with key terms and concepts.
- Module 2: Labs & Imaging. Learn about common labs and imaging used in both conventional and integrative care—what they show, why they're ordered, and what we’re looking for.
- Module 3: Therapeutic Diets and Nutrition. Explore common therapeutic diets and nutrition strategies to support the management and overall health of individuals with IBD.
- Module 4: Drug Therapies. Learn about conventional and off-label drugs, risks, drugs to approach with caution, and how to feel confident in your treatment choices, including what to consider if thinking about stopping meds.
- Module 5: Supplements. Discover research-backed supplements that may support IBD management and how to choose the right ones for your health.
- Module 6: Herbal Medicine. Explore herbal medicine categories, common herbs, and the research on their safe and effective use (or avoidance) in IBD management.
- Module 7: Microbial Medicine. Learn about microbial therapies like FMT, probiotics, and prebiotics, including their roles and research in supporting IBD management.
- Module 8: Helminthic Therapy. Discover the concept of helminthic therapy, its potential role, and the current research on using helminths to modulate immune response in IBD.
- Module 9:Â Lifestyle Medicine. Explore how sleep, stress, exercise, and environmental factors impact IBD, and learn strategies to support your overall health and well-being.
What others are saying...
Lise Alschuler, ND, eMBA
President of Sonoran University
"Dr. Davis is an exemplary instructor. He has a unique ability to energize an evidence-based integrative approach to digestive disorders, IBD in particular, with clinically-informed perspectives. His enthusiasm for integrative self-care of IBD is informative and inspirational."
Ilana Gurevich, ND, LAc, FABNG
Creator of IBD Bootcamp for Clinicians
"I’ve had the privilege of learning from Mark Davis for over a decade. Every time I hear him speak, I walk away with new insights that immediately shift my perspective on health. His ability to break down complex concepts into tangible takeaways makes it easy to absorb and apply the material quickly. I always learn something new—and useful—from him. "
Steven Sandberg-Lewis, ND, DHANP
Naturopathic Gastroenterology Professor | 40+ Years in GI Practice | Author
"Dr. Mark Davis is a superb educator. Charismatic, creative, intelligent and extremely knowledgeable about IBD, he thinks outside the box with innovative approaches to sustaining remission and creating balance. I highly recommend this course on integrative self-care for IBD."
