My unique approach

Wellness is the state of mind, body, spirit and environment all in balance. My goal is to optimize all these aspects to keep a child happy and healthy! When problems do arise, I like to find the root cause of the problem. Too often I see patients whose symptoms have just been covered up, without addressing the underlying problem.  My goal is to make children more well, not just less sick. Although sometimes the body needs help with modern medical care to get back to that wellness state. This approach I use is called integrative medicine: combining evidence based natural approaches with modern medicine. 

 

About my practice 

My goal is to provide individualized and holistic care. All my practice’s policies are centered around this goal. To accomplish this, I went to the old fashioned and simple model of healthcare with direct access to the doctor. Patients and doctors are becoming increasingly frustrated with the managed care system and are turning towards other models of care. One of those models is called direct primary care, and that is the model I chose for my practice to provide the highest level of care.

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My training

 I went to medical school and residency at the University of Kansas Medical Center. I was top in my class, and went on to do 4 years of training in surgery, including a year in pediatric surgery. But I have always had a passion for nutrition and wellness, which I could pass onto families better in primary care. Therefore I changed to pediatrics, and became a board certified pediatrician in 2012. 

I have training in nutrition and integrative medicine that I obtained outside of the traditional medical training. I was fortunate to get my undergraduate Bachelor's degree in nutrition. 

I also did online pediatric integrative medicine training through the University of Arizona.  In fall of 2022 I attended the Breathe Baby course at The Breathe Institute where I had training on how to evaluate and manage tethered oral tissues.  I have a passion to improve infant wellness: focusing on gut health, maternal factors affecting baby’s health, feeding, tethered oral tissues, and functional breathing. 

At the beginning of my career I worked for 10 years in the system at University of Kansas and then a local private practice. But I struggled to provide the care I wanted to give within these settings. It became more apparent that families need individualized holistic healthcare for their children. That is when I turned the dream of Mindful Pediatrics into a reality!

 

My family

My family is my biggest source of inspiration and support. My husband is truly my other half: he keeps me balanced, grounded in reality, and laughing. He also helps with the business aspects of the practice. I am raising a teenage daughter and helping to raise 2 teenage step-daughters. Our family’s children have taught me much of what I use to help families raise their own children! I am also the proud godmother of a godson, to whom I was the gestational carrier (surrogate) for his parents who are close friends I met in medical training. 

I love animals! I have 2 rescue dogs, a rescue bunny, a cat, and a flock of 11 chickens!

 

My life

I live in Olathe on a small 4 acre "homestead". I prioritize providing my family healthy food and a healthy lifestyle. I really enjoy cooking and doing anything outdoors. To keep myself active and centered I do yoga and walking. I do my best to provide my family with a clean living home environment. We are also mindful of taking care of our earth and try to be sustainable as possible in our everyday lives.