By Vanessa Orr
One of the most important aspects of medical care is having a doctor you can trust who understands your health conditions before providing recommendations. This holds true in the case of medical marijuana certification and recertification as well.
“What distinguishes me and my practice is that I’m available, accessible, and I believe it’s important to educate people to empower them to make better choices,” said Daphnee Moise-Johnson, M.D., Vivant Medical Group. “Medical marijuana is a medicine, and it needs to be treated as such.”
Dr. Moise-Johnson has been an emergency room physician for 20 years and opened Vivant Medical Marijuana in Tampa six months ago to provide more a preventative type of care to patients.
“I wanted to get into more functional, integrative medicine to better help people find answers to their health problems before they find themselves at the ER in the middle of the night,” she said.
While Dr. Moise-Johnson believes strongly in the benefits of medical marijuana, she wants to ensure that the medicine is used the right way.
“I’ve seen quite a lot of improvement in patients’ health; many are no longer taking any kind of antidepressants or benzodiazepines or drinking alcohol, and they are sleeping better and going back to work,” she said. “But it’s important that they understand how the medicine works and find the right balance to make it a positive experience.”
When patients call, Dr. Moise-Johnson spends a minimum of 45 minutes educating them on the benefits of medical marijuana; the different illnesses it treats and why; the endocannabinoid system and the importance of terpenes.
“By understanding the different terpenes, you can find something more customized to your needs,” she said. “It’s also important to understand how these products work and how to take them so that patients don’t just go into the dispensary blindly.
“At Vivant, they are always going to have that exclusive doctor-patient relationship.”
To learn more, visit Vivant at www.vivantmedicalmarijuana.com or call (800) 574-9491.
