Sachin Patel believes that when you were born, you were given the keys to a Ferrari. Trouble is, no one taught you how to drive it.

He is, of course, talking about your body and your health.

“Nothing can fix your body better than it can fix itself,” says Patel, a chiropractic physician who earned his undergraduate degree in kinesiology from McMaster in 2001.

Founder and CEO of the Living Proof Institute, he leads a team of medical specialists dedicated to addressing the root causes of their patients’ health issues.

Patel’s wife, Dipa Chauhan, is a registered pharmacist and one of the specialists on the team. She spent two years at McMaster – that’s where they met – before moving on to study pharmacology.

“What drew me to Mac was the cozy feeling, the proximity to nature, and the balance between academics and community,” says Chauhan, who points out they are still in close touch with friends they made during their time as undergraduates.

Patel also credits McMaster and its kinesiology program for giving him a solid foundation for his career as a functional medicine practitioner, corporate consultant, speaker and educator.

In 2012 they established the Living Proof Academic Grant to support kinesiology students at McMaster. Recently, they increased their donation to fund three grants to be named in memory of a young friend and McMaster student, Heeren Mistry, who passed away in January.

McMaster kinesiology student Hailey Moore received the Living Proof Academic Grant in 2014.

Hailey Moore

“It meant a lot to me that someone who’d never heard of me would be generous enough to support me in my studies. I’m honoured, grateful and humbled,” says Moore.

She has just graduated with her honours bachelor of science in kinesiology and will be enrolling in McMaster’s Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine this September.

Patel himself was the recipient of donor-funded financial aid while a student at McMaster. Establishing the Living Proof Academic Grant is “our small way of paying it forward.”

The Living Proof Institute strives to create a new health-care model that “puts the power back into the patient’s hands,” says Patel.

They look at their patients’ health from all points of view – how they think, eat, move and live their lives.

Patel and his team aren’t a replacement for traditional medicine, which he likens to the fire department.

“They deal with catastrophic events, whereas we are the handymen, the repairmen” – providing the maintenance and prevention so essential for long-term health.

Patel points out that, fittingly, the word “doctor” derives from the Latin word for “teacher.”

“We want to teach our patients how not to need our care.”

For more info, go to www.livingproofinstitute.com