Planning a legacy in lifestyle medicine 

Dr. Beth Frates and her husband Jim have established a planned gift for ACLM so they can continue to support the organization and the field of lifestyle medicine after they are gone.

Many people reach a time in life when they think about the legacy they wish to leave behind. For Beth Frates, MD, FACLM, DipABLM, and her husband, Jim Frates, that moment arrived a few years ago after the last of their four parents died.   

During estate planning, Frates wanted to help ensure the universities and nonprofits they supported during their lives would continue to thrive.   

“We wanted to feel like even when we are gone from this world, the work that we have devoted our careers to would still benefit,” Dr. Frates said.  

Dr. Frates established in their will a planned gift to the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM), the organization she led as president from 2022 to 2024. The gift is intended to support and grow ACLM’s role as the nation’s medical professional society advancing the field of lifestyle medicine as the foundation of a redesigned, high-value and equitable healthcare delivery system. ACLM celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2024. 

“ACLM is profoundly grateful to Beth and Jim Frates for this extraordinary act of generosity and vision,” ACLM CEO Susan Benigas said. “This gift reflects their deep commitment to ACLM and empowering individuals and communities to thrive through evidence-based lifestyle medicine. Their legacy will enable us to innovate our programs and inspire future generations of healthcare leaders in the field.” 

Dr. Frates’s connection to ACLM is as personal as it is professional. She discovered lifestyle medicine after her father suffered a stroke at age 52 when she was 18 years old. Her father transformed his health through lifestyle behavior changes with the help of the Pritikin Centers and Dr. Dean Ornish’s program, among others. He lived another beautiful 27 years and was able to enjoy his children’s weddings and even some of his grandchildren’s graduations from college.   

After his death, Dr. Frates established in her father’s name the Donald A. Pegg Award Student Leadership Award at ACLM. The award recognizes emerging lifestyle medicine leaders with key seed funding to support Lifestyle Medicine Interest Groups (LMIGs) and attendance at ACLM’s annual conference. Dr. Frates founded the nation’s first LMIG at Harvard University in 2008.  

Dr. Frates is hopeful that, by the time their planned gift to ACLM is received, there are LMIGs at every medical school. Every student leader who emerges from an LMIG paves new paths in medical schools and healthcare professional schools and sparks growth and innovation in medical education, she said.   

Dr. Frates has also donated to ACLM her share of proceeds from three books she co-authored—the “Lifestyle Medicine Handbook,” the “Lifestyle Medicine Pocket Guide” and the “Teen Lifestyle Medicine Handbook.” ACLM uses the gift of her proceeds to create more evidence-based lifestyle medicine educational materials that educate other practicing and future physicians and health professionals.  

“Knowing that a gift has legs and keeps on giving is the key, and giving to ACLM accomplishes that,” she said. “Jim and I know that the money we give to ACLM will be used to help advance the practice and art of lifestyle medicine, and that this will impact the lives of thousands of patients. We have faith that our decision will be a powerful one that enables further transformation in healthcare.”