What happens when a physician deeply committed to Western medicine and wants to know more than Western Medicine has to offer.
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Dr Gayle Madeleine Randall, director of Randall Wellness Center, built her path around that concept. Rather than accepting a single definition of medicine, she has spent her career asking in depth questions exploring different disciplines and challenging herself to understand what truly helps people heal.
Dr. Gayle Madeleine Randall, Director of the Randall Wellness Center, built her career within Western medicine, becoming an Internist and gastroenterologist, professor, and physician committed to advancing patient care and understanding how the body heals. Her work in medicine gave her a strong scientific foundation, but her curiosity kept pushing her to ask more questions: what else could help her patients?
That did not lead her away from Western medicine. Instead, it led her to explore medical traditions and healing disciplines beyond it, from American Indian, Chinese, and Ayurvedic medicine to other approaches she believed could offer additional insight. Over time, Dr. Randall developed a philosophy centered not on choosing one system over another, but on bringing different forms of knowledge together when they can serve the patient. For her, the power lies in the combination: honoring what Western medicine has established while remaining open to other approaches that may offer additional ways to support healing.
A Purpose Written Before She Could Speak
Before she knew what medicine was, Dr. Randall had already encountered something she would spend a lifetime understanding.
Born on April 29, weeks before her expected June 15th due date, Dr. Randall experienced a near-death experience as an infant. She remembers being surrounded by what she called “the kind ones,” gigantic, beautiful, compassionate, pastel-colored beings who gently waved her back toward her tiny body. Their message was clear: she had a reason to return, and compassion and service was her purpose.
That belief became a quiet constant throughout her life. While many people search for meaning, Dr. Randall has always believed that people are here to serve other souls and heal others through their journeys. That conviction eventually drew her towards medicine.
Her premature birth led experts to predict that she would be small in stature and intellectually challenged. Instead, resilience became one of her earliest strengths. She grew to 5’11” and became a multi-boarded physician and professor at UCLA. Looking back with humor, she says, “I would say I turned out to be pretty bright after all.”
The meaning of that first experience unfolded gradually, through the choices she made and the people she encountered. What began at the very start of her life became a guiding thread behind the physician she chose to become.
She developed a curiosity that resulted in an intellect with no boundaries
Her passion for knowledge has always pushed Dr Randall beyond conventional medical knowledge. Teachings from American-Indian medicine people introduced her to the concept of holism as a medical student. So she took that knowledge with her, The understanding that health encompasses the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual dimensions of a person. And she shared this perspective in her first book, Soul Doctoring, Heal Yourself Heal the Planet.
As an internist and gastroenterologist and through her work as a physician and professor at UCLA, she built her career within the medical system while continually looking for better ways to understand disease and help her patients.
Her scientific work led her to investigate questions that were not always being asked at the time, including the role of the microbiome and unique approaches to medical treatment and healing. At the same time, her work with American Indian, Chinese, and Ayurvedic teachers gave her expanded perspectives on health.
Rather than viewing these approaches as alternatives to Western medicine, Dr. Randall became interested in what could happen when different forms of knowledge were brought together. She helped produce a UCLA documentary project exploring the integration of ancient medical disciplines with standard medical regimens, reflecting an approach that was still uncommon at the time.
For Dr. Randall, the philosophy was simple: “The more that I can know, the more I can help my patients.” Her work became rooted in the belief that medicine does not have to be an either-or choice. The scientific rigor of Western medicine and insights from other healing traditions could become parts of a broader approach to patient care.
When Patients Taught Her What Medicine Could Mean
Some of Dr. Gayle Madeleine Randall’s deepest lessons have come from the patients and people she has cared for throughout her career. Her approach has always been rooted in listening, combining her medical knowledge with what she learns from each individual, and considering different approaches. As she puts it, “I learn from every patient.” A dramatic example of her many experiences was her mother who developed a rare form of lung cancer unrelated to smoking in 1988. Dr. Randall brought together what she knew of scientific, hands-on, emotional, and spiritual healing.
She drew on Chinese, Ayurvedic, American Indian, and Pranic healing practices in addition to her cutting-edge medical knowledge. Her mother particularly enjoyed the Pranic healing sessions, calling them “heat treatments” when her daughter laid her hands over her. Dr. Randall also made her a traditional American Indian medicine bag and asked her to sleep with it. Her mother joked, “It’s such a beautiful purse, do you really want me to sleep with it?” And she said, “Yes mom, it will help you heal”. So her mother did it for her anyway. After the tumor was surgically removed, there was a vacant spot where the tumor once was.
Even so, Pathology found cancer cells near a vessel, and chemotherapy and radiation were strongly recommended. Her mother chose natural therapy instead. She was 72 when Dr Randall treated her, and she lived to be 93. The experience only reinforced Dr. Randall’s belief in integrated individualized care, personal choice, hope, and the many forms healing can take. She believed that the real power can lie in combining medicines rather than choosing one approach over another.
In 2018, actress Olivia Hussey, known as Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet, came to see Dr. Randall with severe metastatic breast cancer. They had first met at Howard Wills healing center where Olivia had first expressed she would like to seek Dr. Randall’s care.
After extensive chemotherapy and radiation, Olivia came to Dr Randall’s office with her family; husband David and daughter India. She was distraught and said, “Dr. Randall, I just can’t do it anymore. Can you help me? I don’t know what to do.” Dr. Randall placed her hand upon her shoulder and said, “It’s okay Olivia, there is a solution to every problem. If you want to try natural therapy, we can do that. There are a million ways we can go. I’m going to help you through this”. Her body relaxed and her trust began to grow.
The approach included natural remedies, herbs, a strict vegan diet, ceremonies, and intense prayer discipline. Olivia continued to work with Howard Wills and trust became central: she trusted Dr. Randall, trusted Howard Wills, and most importantly trusted her own body which led to profound healing.
After several months, a follow-up imaging study miraculously showed complete regression of the tumor, which had been the size of a cantaloupe right beside her heart. Dr. Gayle Madeleine Randall remembers sharing the news with Olivia and her family. It was an emotional celebration with hugs and tears and joyful laughter. Olivia lived seven more glorious years before a recurrence at the end of 2024.
This was another experience of many that reinforced Dr Randall’s practice and belief that healing cannot be reduced to a single path. Patients need to be heard, their choices respected, and different approaches considered.
When Setbacks Opened Unexpected Doors
Dr. Randall has learned to look for positivity inside difficult circumstances. In 2016, her dream home by the ocean was flooded with sewage, forcing her to gut and rebuild the interior. Although the Development initially agreed to cover what insurance did not, it ultimately determined it was not responsible, leaving her with a huge financial burden.
The setback eventually became an unexpected opportunity. Dr. Randall turned this into a positive outcome. She moved her entire medical offices into the restored Malibu facility, creating a clinical space and annex for supplements, equipment, computers, and other medical tools. The arrangement reduced overhead, while patients loved the ocean, regenerative gardens, and the warmth of the setting. What began as devastation became one of her finest moments of survival.
At this time she developed an awareness of the divide between the availability of conventional and holistic care to the underserved. She is now working with a gentleman, Evan Hilton, Chief Strategic Officer, and a group of experts on strategies to bring Integrative Holistic care to underserved pediatric populations in Detroit, Michigan.
That commitment to underserved communities also has roots in her earlier medical work. During her career, Dr. Randall volunteered at free clinics, including the Free Venice Clinic and had her own free Gastroenterology and Medicine Clinic serving underserved patients and veterans on the VA grounds.
In 2024, Dr. Randall faced a health crisis of her own. She reported for a knee replacement surgery for which she was cleared and in excellent physical health. Because of a small cut on her non-surgical leg the procedure was postponed. This is understandable because infection risks are very stringent for joint replacement surgeries as they should be. She was told to come back in two weeks.
As she was leaving, the nurse held out her hand with two pills in her palm and instructed her to take them. It was like a scene out of The Matrix. The medicine was pregabalin; they told her it would help her pain. She was vulnerable because she was expecting to get knee replacement surgery that day. Unlike her usual behavior, she took the pills.
Of note, she was on tramadol for Osteoarthritis pain. On the drive home, she began to feel more and more tired. She said to her friend, “I can’t believe I’m so tired”. So she looked up on her phone the interaction between pregabalin and tramadol. “Do not ever administer pregabalin with tramadol, may cause severe over-sedation, coma, or death”.
She went home extremely tired, and slept for five days. When she realized she was not going to be able to sleep it off, she called 911 herself. When she got to the hospital, she could not explain what had happened because she was unconscious and was placed on a ventilator. She remained in a coma from January 7 to March 1, 2024, 1am.
It was as if “Scotty beamed me back.” There was a blinding white light and the most profound unconditional sense of love throughout her entire being and she heard God’s message: “Go back, finish your Soul contract, and help and heal people, they need you.”
The health and financial consequences were devastating, but once again she turned pain into purpose. During a two year recovery, she sold her Malibu home and opened a larger wellness center and home in the Santa Monica Mountains. The Calabasas Randall Wellness Center has been warmly received by her patients, and her horse is now only ten minutes away. What followed, she says, turned out to be better than she could have dreamed.
The Beliefs That Shape Her Healing
These experiences have shaped a set of principles that guide how Dr. Gayle Madeleine Randall approaches medicine and patient care. At the center of her philosophy is the belief that Western medicine and other healing approaches do not exist separately. Bringing different forms of knowledge together gives patients a more powerful and individualized approach to care.
Her Five Guiding Principles
01 – Integrative Medicine
The power comes from the combination of different medicines, not one way or the other. And honoring the body, mind, and spirit.
02 – Positive Thinking Matters
Hope and a constructive mindset greatly influence how a person responds to adversity and their healing outcome. Dr. Randall sees herself as a walking, living, breathing example of that belief and process.
03 – Choose Yourself
A person must recognize that their life, healing, and purpose matter. “Choose you, and you become God’s chosen one.”
04 – Never Give Up
Persistence can make transformation possible. She believes people should surrender only to God, not fear, limitation, or despair. Never give up!
05 – Heal the Whole Person
Chronic illness affects more than the body. Emotional regulation, spiritual connection, relationships, and social support are central to healing.
Dr. Randall has also observed how prolonged stress or trauma can place the body in a defensive state, cell defense response, affecting stress hormones, such as elevated cortisol, inflammatory cytokines, and a change in energy metabolism from oxidative phosphorylation to glycation. All of these things are considered to be negative and bad when actually there are things your body needs to do in order to survive and then click back into health. Clicking back is the secret. If not, you end up in chronic disease. Clicking back requires most importantly spiritual connection, positive attitude, emotional regulation, and meaningful support from family and friends. I have lived it and proved it.
Still Learning, Still Looking Ahead
Dr. Gayle Madeleine Randall remains relentlessly curious. She follows emerging research and incorporates new approaches into her medical and wellness programs. Evidence-informed, and consistent with responsible patient care. Having explored approximately 25 disciplines, she has never stopped learning.
She is currently writing her second book sharing her wisdom learned through her near-death experience and coma. In addition to a recent synthesis of knowledge and science. She hopes to share those lessons through the book, speaking engagements, and conversations with people searching for meaning, inspiration, resilience, and hope.
Her attention is also turning toward peptides and stem-cell-based therapies. She believes these fields have become important tools for people with serious or difficult-to-treat conditions when studied and applied responsibly. She is learning more through Dr Achint Choksy, MD and partnering with him in scientific exploration. At the same time, she recognizes that these therapies require care, noting that many people use them without sufficient scientific rigor or patient protection.
She is also working with Dr Mike DeBord, D.C., creator of Biological Exercise. A scientific breakthrough in how we approach exercise. This is an amazing new way to build muscle, release lactic acid, growth hormone and oxytocin. All without going to the gym. Another wave of the future for medical recovery for those who may be limited in their ability to do strenuous exercise.
At the heart of her work remains the purpose she has carried from the beginning: to keep learning, remain open to different forms of healing, and use what she knows to help and heal others. She believes her legacy will not be measured by what she acquires, but by how many people she helps, inspires, and heals.
The move to the Calabasas Randall Wellness Center has become another meaningful part of that story.
An Idea She Wants to Bring to Medicine
Dr Randall is looking toward an idea that could give physicians another way to listen to their inner knowing. She would like to design an app that teaches physicians how to develop and use intuition alongside their medical knowledge.
Her Idea
An Intuition App for Physicians
- The gap: Most existing apps focus on science and medicine, while intuition is information from another dimension outside technology. Then technology can be used to verify the findings.
- The purpose: Help physicians explore intuition as a potentially powerful tool in diagnosis and healing.
- The foundation: Dr. Gayle Madeleine Randall has already taught intuition to medical students at UCLA, where she describes the results as remarkable.
- The practical check: An intuitive thought or “hit” does not have to remain an unexplained feeling. Physicians can investigate it through a medical test or even use AI to explore the insight.
The idea reflects Dr Randall’s belief that intuition does not have to compete with science. Instead, it can prompt another question, another test, or another avenue of inquiry, giving physicians one more way to look at the people they are trying to help.
A day in the life of Dr. Gayle Madeleine Randall
I wake up at 5am. I always chuckle because I ask Alexa, “What Time is it”? Inevitably,
she responds, “Right now, it’s 5am.” When I was in medical school, I taught myself to
sleep whenever I get the chance. In so doing, I also taught myself to wake up when I
needed to. If I were called on an emergency, I would wake up, go and tend to the
emergency, and when I returned to my bed, I would be able to fall asleep immediately.
The alternative would be cursed with lifelong insomnia. I believe we all have this gift to
teach ourselves to sleep if we focus and allow it. The first thing I do when I sit up on the
the edge of my bed is drink a good amount of water. After a visit to the restroom, I sit on
the edge of my bed and spend about 30 minutes writing.
I drink my protein drink and a few other supplements, put on my boots and riding pants
and head out to see my horse by 6am. Before I go out the door, I stand at the altar, burn
sage, say my prayers and set the intention for the day. Part of which is praying for the
patients who are coming that day. Depending on the weather, I either ride my horse
through the Santa Monica mountains, or we do liberty work where I work with him from
the ground. We basically dance; he follows me, lifts his leg when I lift mine, and bows at
the end. It is an amazing connection that is very healthy for both of us.
I return home, clean up, and do my Pilates routine. I spend at least an hour with
each patient. We get to the root cause of what really is bothering them, and often times
they say when they are leaving, “I feel better already”.
I answer phone calls, check emails, answer text messages, and eat my meal before 4 o’clock because research shows that is what your microbiome wants in addition to 30 different plant foods in a week.
After my meal, I take a power nap because I’ve been up since 5am.
I wake up from my nap and take care of any house chores that need to be done, take care
of the plants and animals. I talk to people on the phone, either business or friends, and
make plans for the future. Whether I’m waking up from my nap or in the morning, I also
record my dreams because they tell me about where I am or where I am going in the
future. I have been working in the dream as a spiritual practice for 30 years. The
teachings were handed down to me by the Yaqui dreaming women. We have dream
ceremonies in the Wellness Center usually monthly where we listen to the dream
teachings and learn about our soul journeys.
Quick Takes
01 – A Quote She Lives By
“Speak the truth, do not wait for someone else to speak for you. It’s You that can change the world.” – Malala Yousafzai
02 – Her Advice For The Journey
Things that don’t work are not failures. They are opportunities to learn the true path. It’s the journey, not the destination, that counts.
03 – Her Book Recommendation
Braiding Sweet Grass for a look at the spiritual side of life.
Key Takeaways
- Lead with purpose and compassion
- Stay relentlessly curious
- Turn setbacks into opportunities
- Embrace whole-person healing
- Measure success by the people you help
A Story Beyond Medicine
The Girl on the Balcony – Documentary Feature
| The Project | The Story | Dr. Gayle Madeleine Randall’s Role |
| The Girl on the Balcony | Olivia Hussey’s narrative, spoken in her own words, about becoming Juliet | Executive Producer |
| Produced by | Tony Marinozzi & October Eleven Films | 2026 |
A project that preserves Olivia Hussey’s own story and the journey behind becoming Juliet.
