I spent much of my adult life working in Emergency Medicine as a Paramedic before
going to the Physician Assistant program at Loma Linda University in Southern
California. After graduating from there in 2018, I spent the past five years working in
addiction medicine in a residential treatment program in Boulder, Colorado. Working in
addiction medicine, I commonly assisted adult patients, of all ages, dealing with anxiety,
depression, cravings, withdrawal symptoms and sleep challenges. Patients would often
come to me wanting to reduce their amount of medications to just what was helpful and
necessary and I would take a lot of pride in helping them achieve that goal. Genetic
testing provides a helpful tool to initially choose, change or adjust a dose of a particular
medication. I believe that it is important to meet an individual where they are in the
healing process and to address the whole person rather than just the presenting
problem or symptom. To address the “whole person” requires getting a detailed history
and a partnership between patient and provider. Establishing such a partnership gives
me great joy.
