DETAILED SHOW NOTES COMING SOON https://www.dremilyparke.com/interview Functional Medicine  http://learntruehealth.com/functional-medicine So many people are gravitating now to functional medicine. This is because they know the implications of becoming too dependent on drugs. Functional medicine can even help heal the gut naturally to support the immune system.  To talk more about functional medicine, Dr. Emily Parke explains it in detail in this episode. Finding Her Passion When Dr. Emily Parke was little, she remembers wanting to try everything. Getting her first toy medical kit as a toddler ignited her curiosity about the medical world. During her teenage years was when she found a passion for medicine. At 16 years old, Dr. Emily Parke worked at CVS pharmacy part-time. That time, you didn’t need any extra training or certification to learn about medication and medical conditions.  So, Dr. Emily Parke was able to learn the ins and outs of the pharmacy business. Dr. Emily Parke also had a friend who was a volunteer for the local ambulance. She loved the experience and invited Dr. Emily Parke to try as well. So, at 17 years old, Dr. Emily Parke became a volunteer after undergoing actual training for the certified first responder. College Years During her college years, Dr. Emily Parke took up pre-med biology. Despite her college class schedule, she still found a way to continue her volunteer work with the local ambulance. Dr. Emily Parke loved all her science courses in college. She eventually switched schools and got an associate degree in respiratory therapy. Then she stayed on and got her Bachelors’ degree from the same college in cardiorespiratory science. But it wasn’t until Dr. Emily Parke got into respiratory therapy school when one of her instructors would put them on rounds as respiratory therapy students with the medical students at the university. Eventually, Dr. Emily Parke ended up choosing anesthesiology because there was a lot of hands-on stuff. The Cleveland Clinic Dr. Emily Parke did her anesthesiology residency at the Cleveland Clinic. For her, it was her first diverse experience. Working at the Cleveland Clinic was an achievement for Dr. Emily Parke. The Cleveland Clinic was the top three tertiary training facility and always in the top three hospital systems in the country. The Cleveland Clinic was also the number one cardiac center in the world. It was indeed a great place to train. Burned Out Dr. Emily Parke ended up doing a fellowship in pediatric and pediatric cardiac anesthesiology in Philadelphia. After her training, she decided to move to Phoenix, Arizona in 2009. The first year was great. For Dr. Emily Parke, it was a huge learning curve. But after a few years, Dr. Emily Parke started to burn out. She started not sleeping and had stomach issues.  Discovering Acupuncture Going to a doctor for consultation wasn’t successful. This was because Dr. Emily Parke didn’t want, but instead, she wanted to know why she was feeling the way she did. Dr. Emily Parke happened to have a friend going to acupuncture sessions and convinced Dr. Emily Parke to try. It turned out that acupuncture and Chinese herbs helped Dr. Emily Parke sleep well and address her stomach symptoms. Helping Patients After her personal experience with acupuncture, Dr. Emily Parke though about how to learn it also to help her patients. This was because as part of her anesthesiology job, Dr. Emily Parke was also vice chair of the pain department at Phoenix Children’s hospital for a couple of years. She was seeing kids with terrible pain issues just like adults. And that drove her to get training in medical acupuncture. “I took the complete training course for acupuncture for physicians and myself. Another doctor got the acupuncture program up and going at Phoenix Children’s hospital in-patient, and we were only doing out-patient acupuncture for adults,” said Dr. Emily Parke. Functional Medicine One of Dr. Emily Parke’s classmates mentioned the