Why Are We Taking Medicine Outdoors?
Despite the rapid evolution of modern healthcare, our patients are sicker and more stressed than ever. Chronic diseases like obesity, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes are rising fast. Anxiety and burnout are becoming the norm—not just for patients, but for clinicians too. Inside the clinic, we prescribe medications, and recommend diet and exercise. But too often, nothing changes. So what’s missing?
We’re beginning to realize that the healing process isn’t confined to exam rooms.One of the most powerful treatments may lie just outside our doors. Nature—once considered soft or just common sense–is now backed by hard science. Time spent in green spaces doesn’t just feel good; it measurably improves physical, mental, and emotional well-being. From lowering blood pressure and improving myopia to boosting mood, attention and immune response, the data is clear: nature belongs in our medical toolkit.
We’re not just taking medicine outdoors—we’re bringing medicine back to its roots.
The UCLA CME Course: First of Its Kind
Where Science, Soil, and Medical Education Meet
On June 8, 2025, a revolution in medicine took root — literally.
La Puma Farms hosted the first-of-its-kind nature-based Continuing Medical Education (CME) course, in collaboration with the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA: see press release here. This one-day, immersive course brought doctors outdoors to train in evidence-based, nature-based medicine. It’s hands-on, skills-based, clinically grounded and unlike any CME course before it.
“This isn’t about a nice day on the farm,” says course creator Dr. John La Puma, “it’s about giving physicians the tools to use nature as a real, research-backed treatment — starting the moment they leave.”
Course Highlights – Learning from the Ground Up
Each module is led by experts blending science with practice, offering tools physicians can use right away:
Therapeutic Horticulture Activity
Garden alongside colleagues, create a take-home planting kit, and explore the microbial and emotional benefits of healthy soil.
Led by David Schiedermayer, MD
Evidence-Based Forest Bathing (Shinrin-yoku)
Learn how guided nature immersion can impact cardiovascular, neurological, and emotional health.
Led by Tamara Murray
Culinary Medicine from the Farm
Explore nutrient density, satiety, and the clinical use of fresh produce as medicine.
Led by Elizabeth Ko, MD & Dr. John La Puma
Green Exercise + Digital Health
Discover how to prescribe outdoor activity using digital tools and nature’s “gym.”
Led by Eric Durak, MSc
Emerging Nature-Based Therapies
Birding, grounding, balneotherapy, animal-assisted therapy, nature meditation — real tools for real care.
Led by John La Puma, MD
Organic Farm Lunch + Networking
Share a chef-prepared, farm-grown meal with leaders in integrative health.
Optional Vital Sign Monitoring
Check pulse and blood pressure before and after immersion to observe nature’s impact in real time.
This Isn’t Soft Science — It’s Clinical
Time in nature isn’t just refreshing — it’s medically proven. Science shows green spaces improve physical, mental, and emotional health.
Cognitive & Mental Health
Spending time outdoors improves focus, memory, and emotional balance. Nature activities help ease anxiety, reduce stress, and support brain health — especially in children and older adults.
Heart, Immunity & Longevity
Living near green spaces lowers blood pressure and boosts immune response. Regular time in nature is linked to reduced disease risk and even lower mortality rates.
Led by Dr. John La Puma
Dr. John La Puma, M.D. is a pioneer in Nature and Culinary Medicine. He stewards La Puma Farms and leads immersive, physician-focused tours on-site. A two-time New York Times bestselling author, his eight books on food, ethics, and aging have sold over a million copies and been translated into eight languages. He’s spoken at institutions like Harvard, TEDMED, AARP, and Kaiser Permanente, and his work is taught in over 70% of U.S. medical schools. Today, his research centers on nature-based medicine as a clinical tool to prevent disease and promote optimal wellness. His latest book is Indoor Epidemic: 93% Inside Steals Sleep, Focus & Years—The 7% Outdoor Rx Restores Them (Wellness Imprints, March 2026)
Spending time outside, he believes, is a prescription for true well-being.
Nature-Based Learning at La Puma Farms: Praise from The National Academy of Medicine
``At the forefront of the climate health revolution, La Puma Farms’ groundbreaking regenerative organic farm in Santa Barbara stands as a beacon of innovation and hope. La Puma Farms believe in the power of outside, outside movement and outside engagement, and gardening. In all the world’s original blue zones, places known for their longevity, residents continue to garden into their 80s, 90s, and even 100s. In addition to planting, people are nudged into ongoing physical activity by gardening as they have to continuously water, weed, and harvest their plants over long periods of time.
La Puma Farms’ transformative educational programs – engaging everyone from curious schoolchildren to seasoned clinicians – are reshaping the narrative around food, health, and environmental stewardship. By interweaving cutting-edge sustainable farming practices with pioneering research on the medical benefits of outdoor engagement, La Puma Farms is not just growing food; its nurturing a healthier, more resilient future for all. Through La Puma Farms’ holistic approach, La Puma Farms is not simply adapting to a changing world – La Puma Farms is actively cultivating the seeds of global transformation, one regenerative acre at a time.``
Why La Puma Farms?
La Puma Farms is more than a setting — it’s a center for healing and education. As a regenerative farm, it produces food. As a venue, it produces insight. And as a host of the UCLA CME course, it becomes a national model for how nature can improve patient outcomes and prevent clinician burnout.
📍 Want to see how nature therapy is used in our farm tours?
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