Coral reef ecosystems are home to more than 25% of aquatic life and are relied upon by the human population whose dependence on coral reefs has grown in recent decades for food, our coastlines, and for human medicine. Due to the unprecedented rise of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and ocean acidification, these ecosystems have been threatened globally by mass bleaching events amid other local and global pressures. Despite consecutive mass bleaching events from 2014 to 2017 and the further decline in coral reefs in the following years, the increased concern for their survival has contradicted progress in restoration efforts. This has largely been attributed to the current system’s flawed approach (called the “classical paradigm”) which obstructs a standardized approach through which coral reef restoration projects can be executed. While both evidence-based medicine (EBM) and customized medicine (CM) frameworks have both offered considerable new insights into a possible paradigm shift (Downs et al., 2005; Peixoto et al., 2019), in this video I will touch upon my proposal for how the integrative medicine framework may be a more useful approach to coral reef restoration projects today by filling in the gaps of the classical paradigm.