Julian Whitaker

Julian M. Whitaker, M.D. (b. 1944) is an American physician, author, and practitioner of alternative medicine. He is the medical director of the Whitaker Wellness Institute in Newport Beach, California. He is a member of the American Medical Association (although he has never been certified in any specialty recognized by this body) as well as the Orange County California Medical Association and the American College for Advancement in Medicine. He is past president of the American Preventive Medical Association (now called the American Association for Health Freedom), an advocacy organization for freedom of choice of patients and physicians.

Education and certification
Whitaker graduated from Dartmouth College in 1966 with a bachelor of arts (A.B.) degree, and earned his M.D. from Emory University Medical School in 1970, completing his surgical internship at Atlanta's Grady Memorial Hospital in 1971. He did postgraduate training at Emory University and continued with a residency in orthopedic surgery at a hospital affiliated with the University of California San Francisco. He did not complete this residency, becoming more interested in vitamin-related cures which he believed could be more effective than conventional treatments.

He is Board Certified in Anti-Aging Medicine from The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M); however, A4M is not a medical certification board, and Anti-Aging is not a medical specialty granted by the American Board of Medical Specialties.

History
In 1974 Whitaker founded the California Orthomolecular Medical Society, along with four other physicians and the twice Nobel Prize-winning scientist, Linus Pauling.

In 1976 he began work at the Pritikin Longevity Center under the direction of Nathan Pritikin, where he became an adherent of natural methods of treating disease and acquiring an interest in anti-aging and preventive medicine. He is the Director of the Whitaker Wellness Institute (based in Newport Beach, California), which he founded in 1979, and where he and his staff treat patients through the use of diet, exercise, nutritional and herbal supplementation, and lifestyle changes, as well as alternative therapies such as chelation and acupuncture.

He is an opponent of the use of pharmaceuticals in the treatment of mental illness, preferring to treat such illnesses with such methods such as vitamin supplementation, changes of diet, and exercise. His biography on the Whitaker Wellness Institute website states: "He is also a tireless crusader against abuses by the FDA and a champion for medical freedom."

Whitaker is also active as a lecturer, and edits a newsletter called Health and Healing. He is the author of twelve books, including Reversing Heart Disease, Reversing Diabetes, and Shed 10 Years in 10 Weeks.

Criticism
Like other orthomolecular practitioners, Whitaker and his work has been criticized by mainstream medical practitioners. See also Orthomolecular medicine.