Keynote insights from Holistic Health Week 2026
When Dr. Will Cole launched the first functional medicine telehealth practice in the world, the term “telehealth” did not yet exist. He called it a “virtual functional medicine practice” because no better language was available. That was 2009. A decade later, when the pandemic forced every clinician online overnight, Dr. Cole and his team were already years into the infrastructure. They spent 2020 helping other practitioners figure out what they had already worked out the hard way.
Today, Dr. Cole is a New York Times bestselling author of four books including Intuitive Fasting, Gut Feelings, Ketotarian, and The Inflammation Spectrum. He hosts The Art of Being Well podcast. He has been named one of the top 50 functional and integrative medicine doctors in the country. And he spends 10 plus hours a day working with clients managing autoimmune conditions, hormonal imbalances, digestive disorders, and the cluster of chronic issues that conventional medicine struggles to resolve.
He was also a keynote speaker at FDN’s Holistic Health Week 2026, and his session included one of the most direct endorsements of the FDN methodology we have received from outside our alumni network.
“I work with almost exclusively FDNs”
When asked why he staffs his telehealth clinic with FDN Practitioners, Dr. Cole was unambiguous:
“I work with almost exclusively FDNs. They’re the best people to work with. The FDNs on my team are who I prefer to work with on helping people heal, helping people optimize their health.”
He went further:
“These are the people that I get to do life with. They’re my family. They’re my work family. And we get to collaborate on being there for people.”
The reason, he explained, comes down to two things: clinical depth and the ability to turn data into action.
“It is the clinical acumen, without a doubt. They’re heavier on nutrition and heavier on diagnostics. Labs are important, knowing how to interpret the data is important, and then what do you do with that data?”
He added that every FDNP he has worked with shares a common trait:
“The people that go through the program here care about people. I haven’t met one where they didn’t. They’re loyal, caring, high-integrity people.”
Why the “functional medicine” label alone is not enough
One of the most useful moments in Dr. Cole’s keynote was his warning about the dilution of the term “functional medicine.” As the space has gone mainstream, the label has been used more loosely, and that has consequences for consumers trying to find real help.
“The term is used a little bit too flippantly. Everybody is functional, they have functional that. What is their actual training? We need to look beyond just the label. Are they actually certified? What is their training, and beyond certification and training, what’s their experience?”
For aspiring practitioners, this is worth sitting with. The functional health space is growing. Demand is real. Consumers are getting more sophisticated, and they will increasingly ask what backs up a practitioner’s claim to the title. A certification program’s depth of curriculum, clinical methodology, and graduate outcomes will matter more in the next decade, not less.
The science and art of being a great practitioner
Dr. Cole spent several minutes describing what separates the strongest practitioners he works with from the rest. His framing was “science and art.”
The science is the clinical acumen. Understanding hormones, digestion, immunity, detoxification, energy production, and the nervous system. Knowing which labs to run for which person. Interpreting data correctly. Building protocols that address underlying causes rather than chasing symptoms.
The art is everything else. Holding space. Reading the room, virtual or otherwise. Knowing when to lead and when to listen. Being present. Being prepared. Coming to the appointment having actually reviewed the case rather than catching up in real time in front of the client.
“It is a sacred responsibility to heal people.”
And on what the best practitioners have in common:
“People that are interested in you leveling up your health, they see you as a human being, as a person that’s worthy of wellness, that’s worthy of healing, and not just going through the motions. They’re not just a lab on a paper. They are a human being.”
This is the “treat the person, not the paper” principle at the center of the FDN methodology. Dr. Cole’s framing adds weight to it from someone who has been practicing it at scale for more than 15 years.
On testing: comprehensive without being excessive
Given that FDN is built on functional lab analysis, Dr. Cole’s perspective on testing carried particular weight. He was direct about the pitfall of over-testing.
“We want to be comprehensive without being excessive. Comprehensive, but still cost-effective and practical and clinically appropriate.”
The starting point, he said, is always the health history. Labs follow from a well-conducted intake, not the other way around. And the test results only matter if the practitioner can do something with them.
“People come in with good intentions, but you have a pile of labs and nothing to show for it. What good are the labs if you don’t have follow-through? The labs are at the beginning, but they’re just the beginning.”
For FDN students and graduates, this reinforces why the five foundational tests taught in the program are always taught alongside the full methodology for correlating results with each client’s complaints. Tests without interpretation and execution are just paperwork.
The supplement graveyard problem
One of the most resonant moments in the keynote was Dr. Cole’s description of what he calls the “supplement graveyard.”
“I get a lot of people that have tried a lot of stuff, and they have a pile of supplements. A supplement graveyard. They don’t even know why they’re taking all of it.”
His position: more is not better. The practitioner’s job is to curate, customize, and distill. To identify the changes that will actually move the needle for this specific person, and to give the client permission to stop doing the things that are not.
“Stressing about healthy things isn’t good for our health.”
This is the kind of principle that only comes from years of clinical work. It sounds simple. Living it in practice, especially with clients who arrive carrying spreadsheets of supplements and interventions, takes real skill.
A career pathway for patients who want more
One part of the keynote stood out for anyone considering the FDN certification. Dr. Cole shared that he regularly has telehealth patients who, through their own healing journey, want to pursue this work professionally. When they ask him where to train, he sends them to FDN.
“I can’t tell you how many telehealth patients over the years have become FDNPs because of their own health journey. When they met me, they were in banking, they were in an office job, they were in a completely different space professionally. Through their own health journey, they asked me, ‘Where would you go? I want to learn about this and maybe do a career pivot.’ I send them to you all.”
He added: “That’s happened countless times over the years.”
For prospective students on the fence, this is worth reading twice. A New York Times bestselling functional medicine doctor, with his own clinical team and a 15 plus year practice, actively refers his own patients to FDN when they want to become practitioners themselves.
What this means for you
If you are a current FDNP, Dr. Cole’s endorsement is confirmation that the training you completed is recognized and respected at the highest levels of the functional medicine space. Clinical acumen combined with the bio-individual, whole-person approach is what sets FDNPs apart from the growing field of “functional” generalists.
If you are considering the FDN Program, the strongest signal in any certification is what clinicians at the top of the field do when they need to hire skilled practitioners for their own teams. Dr. Cole has made that choice publicly and repeatedly.
The Holistic Health Week 2026 replay package is available if you want to watch Dr. Cole’s full keynote along with all 24 other expert sessions from the event.
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