Pioneering Integrative Medicine

Dr Mark Tager (l) yoga stretching with NBA basketball star Maurice Lucas (r) of the Portland Trail Blazers.

An early pioneer in integrative medicine, Mark founded the Institute of Preventive Medicine in Portland, Oregon in 1976. He recognized that most patients simply needed more time with their doctor. So Mark created the standard one-hour appointment so patients could fully explore their health issues. The Institute featured other holistically oriented practitioners, most of whom also taught classes. Mark taught a popular Monday night yoga class. 

He then went on to become Director of Health Promotion for the Northwest division of Kaiser Permanente where he was responsible for training healthcare professionals to deliver wellness services.

The Synergist Emerges

While in Oregon, Mark produced a weekly radio show and wrote a wellness column for The Oregon Journal and Seattle Times. He authored his first of his eleven books in 1977 entitled Whole Person Healthcare advocating an integrative approach to medicine.

Mark was the producer of an early cable health series sponsored by Bristol Myers Squibb entitled The Wellness Lifestyle.

After leaving Oregon, he went on to found Great Performance, Inc, a consumer health company that he ran for ten years, selling it to Times Mirror’s Mosby Health division, the leading health science publisher in the United States. He turned over copyrights to more than 200 educational videos, books, workbooks and posters that he produced.

Innovation & Impact

Mark was the founding marketing VP for Reliant Technologies where he launched the Fraxel® laser, and then went on to become CMO for Syneron where he launched the Velashape® II. Both devices were among the most successful launches in the field of aesthetics. He helped launch Senté cosmeceuticals. He has served as Director of Strategic Initiatives for The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine.

Mark is currently Chief Enhancement Officer (CEO) of ChangeWell, Inc., where he draws upon his expertise in aesthetic, integrative, and regenerative medicine to help companies clarify, organize, and disseminate their messages.

His consulting clients span the gamut of nutraceutical, cosmeceutical, aesthetic device, and clinical laboratory services. He has created a myriad of online training programs for companies directed toward clinicians and/or consumers. 

Educating & Inspiring

Mark actively trains healthcare professionals to improve the care they provide patients. He directs the practice management programs for Miami Cosmetic Surgery & Aesthetic Medicine Conference and serves as an advisor for Informa Markets’ THE Aesthetic Show. He has produced a 40-hr, online CME course in Personalized Nutrition for Practitioners for the American Nutrition Association. He takes complicated concepts and makes them easily understandable.

Along with his business partner, Robert John Hughes, he conducts PresentWell™ Training programs, teaching healthcare professionals how to become irresistibly powerful communicators.Mark serves as faculty for Duke Integrative Medicine and with numerous specialty nutraceutical companies, including Neurohacker Collective, Enzymedica, and Sovereign Laboratories.

Synergy & Contribution

In addition to Feed Your Skin Right: Your Personalized Nutrition Plan for Radiant Beauty, he has authored or co-authored ten books including Cash-Pay Healthcare: How to Start, Grow & Perfect Your Business (with Stewart Gandolf, MBA), and Enhance Your Presence: The Path to Personal Power, Professional Influence, and Business Results (with Robert John Hughes).

Mark is a featured speaker and moderator at medical & healthcare events across the globe. He's trained hundreds of healthcare practitioners, helping them give talks and presentations that bring to life new possibilities for health and wellness.

Mark is a tireless educator & advocate for excellence in healthcare.

The Path to San Diego 

Mark obtained his medical degree from Duke University and trained in Family Practice at the University of Oregon Health Science Center. His speaking opportunities have allowed him to travel extensively, often accompanied by his wife (if the destination is attractive and she agrees not to check luggage).

When not on the road, he hangs his hat in San Diego where he maintains a small orchard and a garden that produces impressive tomatoes.

He and his wife are visited often by their grown children and first granddaughter.