Being a native of Baltimore, MD., I obtained my B.S. degree, Summa Cum Laude, from the University of Maryland, College Park and completed my M.D. training at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (1981) and residency training in Family Practice at the Medical College of Virginia-Fairfax Family Practice Center in 1984.  I have been continuously Board Certified in Family Medicine since 1984, being re-certified in 1991, 1997 and 2004.

From 1984-1994, I practiced in a conventional medical practice as part of large medical group in Annapolis, MD until my love of the mountains, which began when I was 14, brought me to Colorado Springs in 1995.  I continued in a conventional practice there until 1999 when I realized that I could no longer in good conscience practice the typical symptom-suppressing, drug-driven endeavor that modern medicine had become.  From early in my medical training, both through personal experiences gained in intensive, transformational workshops and exposure to alternative healing philosophies, I knew that there was more to illness and disease than conventional medicine was acknowledging and tried to bring this to my practice, particularly in the area of the effect of stress, personality patterns and beliefs on physical health. This became harder and harder to do, particularly in an environment of managed care, so I eventually left that practice to start my own holistic practice in 2000, after a year of intensive study into nutritional and functional medicine along with exposure to Ayurveda, the ancient system of health that has been taught and practiced in India for over 5000 years.

“A holistic practice is aligned with functional medicine and hastens a person’s recovery.”

Over the past 9 years, I have worked with hundreds of patients using a combination of nutrition and alternative therapies, combined with conventional medical treatments when necessary, to regularly achieve more dramatic and lasting results with patients than I ever saw with conventional medicine alone, and in ways that have actually left them healthier in the long run.  I now look at drugs as tools, rather than answers, to achieve desired results.  This applies especially to hormone therapy which is very individual in application depending on each person’s needs and desires.  In general, the more a person does with diet and lifestyle, the less they have to use drugs and hormones to achieve health.  At the same time, everyone needs to be realistic about what they are truly willing to commit themselves to.  In many cases, someone may have dug themselves too deep a hole over the previous decades to fully pull themselves out without use of hormones or drugs and/or honestly not desire to put in the work and time that may be needed to eventually get by without them.  This is an individual choice.

At this point, I see almost all health problems as being the result of a combination of diet, stress and environmental toxins, under which I include pharmaceuticals, especially antibiotics.  And, in my experience, if you have the stress part handled, you can get away with a lot more in the other two areas.  Ultimately, the cumulative damage that bad diet, stress hormones and drugs like antibiotics do to the body, especially the GI tract, creates a domino effect that ripples though the immune and endocrine systems to produce inflammatory problems and hormone imbalances and deficiencies.  The list of potential “diagnoses” that actually have their common root in this scenario is quite lengthy and includes asthma, eczema, migraine headaches, autoimmune diseases, arthritis, PMS and other menstrual disorders, hormonal problems in men leading to prostate problems, infertility and problems relating to low testosterone levels, and in their more dramatic presentations, complex problems like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and fibromyalgia.

Treating these issues requires looking at the whole person and determining a comprehensive plan that gets to the root of their problems.  It is my commitment and promise to work with each person individually to determine the best course of action to accomplish their goals.  I look forward to working with you in a way that leaves you, not just healthier, but more vibrant and alive.