🎙️ NEW EPISODE ALERT: The Medical Fitness Podcast 🔗

This week, we sit down with one of the pioneers in exercise oncology — Dr. Karen Wonders — and if you work in the medical fitness space, this is a must-listen.

Dr. Wonders is a professor at Wright State University, director of both the Exercise Science and Exercise Oncology Certificate Programs, AND founder/CEO of Maple Tree Cancer Alliance. She's been on the front lines of integrating exercise into the cancer care continuum since the early 2000s, long before most of the field even had a name for it.

🔥 In this episode:
✅ What exercise oncology really means — and why it’s now part of standard of care in breast cancer
✅ How fitness professionals should collaborate with oncology teams
✅ Programming considerations during prehab, active treatment, and survivorship
✅ How her certification programs with Maple Tree (now partnered with MFA) are building the workforce we need
✅ Why patient trust and interdisciplinary credibility are everything

💡 If you're a clinician, fitness professional, or educator — this episode gives you the roadmap for getting involved in one of the most important emerging areas in medical fitness.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

📣 Learn more about Dr. Karen Wonders:
🌐 Website: MapleTreeCancerAlliance.org
📱 Instagram & TikTok: @MapleTreeEducation

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New Episode Drop! 🎙️
Get ready for one of our most practical and powerful conversations yet on The Medical Fitness Podcast.

We’re joined by Raina Childers-Richmond — registered dietitian, certified health coach, and a true pioneer in integrating nutrition, behavior change, and fitness inside medically integrated centers.

With nearly three decades of experience, Raina brings frontline insights you won't hear anywhere else.

In this episode, we dive deep into:

• Supporting clients on anti-obesity medications (GLP-1s and beyond): What fitness and wellness professionals must know, how to stay in scope, and why empathy matters more than ever.
• Nutrition for active aging and women’s health: Practical strategies to support women through perimenopause, menopause, and beyond — an underserved population that needs better solutions.
• Redefining medical fitness centers: How to transform your facility into a true health home, connecting nutrition, exercise, mental health, and healthcare access.
• Collaboration vs. Scope Creep: How fitness pros and dietitians can work together better — respecting boundaries, enhancing client outcomes, and building stronger communities.
• Building engagement that lasts: Real-world examples of programming that supports year-long member retention, lifestyle change, and patient trust.
• Emerging Trends: Why the future of medical fitness lies in longevity, healthspan optimization, and personalized programming.

Whether you’re a fitness professional, clinician, program director, or health leader, this episode will leave you thinking differently about how to serve your clients and patients more effectively — and humanely.

🎧 Tune in wherever you get your podcasts — this is a conversation the medical fitness industry needs right now.

🗓️ Plus: If you want to connect with Raina in person and dig even deeper into these topics, catch her live at the MFA Central Region Summit in Owensboro, Kentucky this June!

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🚨 NEW EPISODE ALERT — Season 3, Episode 8 🎙️

The Medical Fitness Podcast
Powered by the Medical Fitness Association + the Medicine-Rehab-Fitness Institute

🎧 Guest: Dr. Jessica Matthews
🎓 Tenured Professor, Program Director – M.S. Integrative Wellness, Point Loma Nazarene University
🏥 Clinical + Research Appointment – UC San Diego Health
🏆 Former Board Member – ACLM & National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching

In this powerhouse episode, we sit down with returning guest and long-time friend of the show, Dr. Jessica Matthews — one of the nation’s top voices in integrative health, health behavior change, and lifestyle medicine.

🔊 What you’ll hear:

✅ Why most traditional healthcare education STILL misses the mark on health behavior change – and how Dr. Matthews built a nationally recognized grad program to fix it
✅ How clinicians and fitness professionals can stop “practicing in silos” and start collaborating effectively
✅ What health and wellness coaching really is — and how it can be implemented successfully into clinical care workflows
✅ The exact skill gaps that are holding many health professionals back from effectively guiding patients through sustainable lifestyle change
✅ A raw and personal look at how Dr. Matthews’ family experiences with chronic disease + recovery shape everything she teaches
✅ Behind the scenes of UC San Diego Health’s coaching integration model — plus barriers, reimbursement challenges, and scalable strategies

🧠 Whether you’re a clinician, coach, educator, or fitness pro, this episode will challenge your assumptions, sharpen your perspective, and ignite your sense of what’s possible when we get behavior change right.

🎯 Big themes:
• Communication as clinical competency
• Interdisciplinary training done right
• Coaching mindset > authority mindset
• Dosing lifestyle medicine for real-world results
• Bridging healthcare and fitness through trust + workflow alignment

🗣️ “You can’t expect clinicians to refer unless you understand their pain points—and their workflow.”
🗣️ “Lifestyle medicine DOES work—when it’s dosed appropriately and supported by the right systems.”
🗣️ “We don’t need more buzzwords. We need more collaboration.”
🗣️ “My mom went from an A1C of 13 to under 5.7—and she was given a 1% chance to live.”

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