Throughout the recorded history of Western medicine, 2 apparently contradictory paradigms have competed for dominance. One sees health and disease as dependent on the function of the body, while the other sees the body as making mistakes and the victim of a hostile environment. The first leads to the physician prioritizing promoting health, while the other sees the physicians as an interventionist fighting disease. The apparent inherent incompatibility of these 2 paradigms has been foundational to centuries of conflict between the various schools of medicine. This is a false dichotomy-our patients need both.