I was born in Bengaluru, India and was lucky enough to have spent the first 11 years with my large, boisterous extended family. My parents, brother and I immigrated to the United States when I was almost 12 years old. We found ourselves in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains in the small and friendly coal mining town of Richlands, Virginia. I graduated from Richlands High School and went to college at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Having spent several hundred hours volunteering in various healthcare settings, I knew I wanted to go into medicine and help as many people as I could.
I went on to medical school at the University of Virginia where I happened to also meet my husband. I loved almost every part of medicine but felt most passionately about wellness and prevention. I decided that being a family physician was my best chance at making our world a healthier place. After graduation, I came to Jacksonville for residency at St. Vincent’s hospital.
After finishing my residency, I began work with Baptist Primary Care and truly enjoyed my years of intense connection with my patients and their families. I felt privileged to have earned my patients' trust and loved being able to make a positive impact on their lives. However, I learned early on that insurance companies had more influence on my patients care and treatment plans than I felt was appropriate or healthy. I also began to see a worrisome trend in traditional healthcare that placed more and more barriers between the doctor and patient.
In the meantime, I had developed a keen interest in the mind/body connection and was disturbed by the lack of training we had in this incredibly important subject. I had explored and practiced meditation and yoga for many years but decided to further my education by officially studying with The Chopra Center in California. Additionally, I became certified as an Ayurvedic Lifestyle teacher.
With these new tools focused on the mind/body connection, my ability to help my patients expanded exponentially while the constrictions of the traditional medical setting became even tighter. I often struggled to give my patients the time they needed at every visit. Although I loved being a family physician, I felt that my full potential for helping patients was not being reached. It was after many months of contemplation that I decided to begin again as an independent company to provide the full breadth of my capacity for mind/body wellness. I am thrilled and excited to be on this beautiful journey as your new doctor via Optimal Wellness.
While not practicing medicine, I love spending time with my two teenage daughters and my husband. We are an outdoorsy bunch and love hiking, biking, camping and anything else that will put us directly into natural settings. We especially love traveling to our wonderful National Parks and have hiked hundreds of miles in gorgeous settings like the Tetons or Yosemite National Park.