Meet Alison - Colorado Functional and Integrative Medicine Practitioner
Welcome to Wild Rice Wellness. I’m Alison, a board certified Family Nurse Practitioner and IFM Certified Functional and Integrative Medicine Provider. I have spent the past 13 years working in academic medicine, starting my career at Georgetown University Hospital. There, I worked in the Neuro ICU and quickly came to see a trend of what landed most patients in the hospital, chronic disease. I realized that I wanted to be on the preventive side of healthcare so, I furthered my education at George Washington University and became a Family Nurse Practitioner. Since then, I have worked in outpatient Neurology at the University of Colorado with a focus on Migraine and chronic pain conditions.
Just a couple of years ago, as I was going through my own journey to health as a new mom, I realized my moral compass was being pulled away from the traditional healthcare model. In the traditional healthcare system, there is simply a lack of time and emphasis on disease prevention and lifestyle medicine. I sought out a more integrative, holistic approach and began studying at the Institute for Functional Medicine. Finally, a science-based, lifestyle approach that could truly help get to the root-cause of disease and promote wellness. I became my own first patient and started to heal using food as medicine, targeted supplements and lifestyle approaches. I started to dream about opening my own Functional and Integrative Medicine practice because I knew I had to share this with the world and thus, Wild Rice Wellness was born.
At present, I am a part-time faculty member at the University of Colorado in the Department of Neurology where I work with patients to help manage migraine and chronic pain disorders using an integrative approach. I do firmly believe there is a time and place for traditional healthcare. There are amazing benefits to the many advancements we have seen in modern medicine, but I feel that there is a lack of emphasis on “well-care” and disease prevention in the traditional healthcare system.
As a mom myself, I am passionate about working with women during the pregnancy and postpartum period. I want moms to feel their best by optimizing their unique health needs so that they can meet the demands of their family and enjoy motherhood. I also have a special interest in working with athletes, particularly endurance athletes, who need their health to keep up with their training requirements and athletic endeavors. These particular groups have unique needs that often are not addressed by the conventional medical model, but I believe functional medicine has so much to offer. I also enjoying working with those who simply want to up-level their health to feel better and live longer. I use a combination of conventional, functional and lifestyle medicine in a true integrative medicine approach to help patients meet their goals and create optimal wellness. I’m excited to work with you every step of the way!
Outside of my clinical practice, I enjoy adventuring in Colorado with my husband, AP, and our two children, Claire and Jude. You can find us hitting the slopes, hiking the trails and rafting the rivers. I grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and it is one of our favorite places to vacation. I am an avid runner and have been for over 20 years! I have run just about every distance from 5ks to ultramarathons – it is my favorite way to relieve stress and get into nature. I enjoy cooking and using food as medicine to keep myself and my family healthy. There is nothing better than a home cooked meal surrounded by loved ones.
Meet Alison
Welcome to Wild Rice Wellness. I’m Alison, a board certified Family Nurse Practitioner and Functional Medicine Provider. I have spent the past 12 years working in academic medicine, starting my career at Georgetown University Hospital. There, I worked in the Neuro ICU and quickly came to see a trend of what landed most patients in the hospital, chronic disease. I realized that I wanted to be on the preventive side of healthcare so, I furthered my education at George Washington University and became a Family Nurse Practitioner. Since then, I have worked in outpatient Neurology at the University of Colorado with a focus on Migraine and chronic pain conditions.
Just a couple of years ago, as I was going through my own journey to health as a new mom, I realized my moral compass was being pulled away from the traditional healthcare model. In the traditional healthcare system, there is simply a lack of time and emphasis on disease prevention and lifestyle medicine. I sought out a more integrative, holistic approach and began studying at the Institute for Functional Medicine. Finally, a science-based, lifestyle approach that could truly help get to the root-cause of disease and promote wellness. I became my own first patient and started to heal using food as medicine, targeted supplements and lifestyle approaches. I started to dream about opening my own Integrative and Functional Medicine practice because I knew I had to share this with the world and thus, Wild Rice Wellness was born.
At present, I am a part-time faculty member at the University of Colorado in the Department of Neurology where I work with patients to help manage migraine and chronic pain disorders using an integrative approach. I do firmly believe there is a time and place for traditional healthcare. There are amazing benefits to the many advancements we have seen in modern medicine, but I feel that there is a lack of emphasis on “well-care” and disease prevention in the traditional healthcare system.
As a mom myself, I am passionate about working with women during the pregnancy and postpartum period. I want moms to feel their best by optimizing their unique health needs so that they can meet the demands of their family and enjoy motherhood. I also have a special interest in working with athletes, particularly endurance athletes, who need their health to keep up with their training requirements and athletic endeavors. These particular groups have unique needs that often are not addressed by the conventional medical model, but I believe functional medicine has so much to offer. I also enjoying working with those who simply want to up-level their health to feel better and live longer. I use a combination of conventional, functional and lifestyle medicine to help patients meet their goals and create optimal wellness. I’m excited to work with you every step of the way!
Outside of my clinical practice, I enjoy adventuring in Colorado with my husband, AP, and our two children, Claire and Jude. You can find us hitting the slopes, hiking the trails and rafting the rivers. I grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and it is one of our favorite places to vacation. I am an avid runner and have been for over 20 years! I have run just about every distance from 5ks to ultramarathons – it is my favorite way to relieve stress and get into nature. I enjoy cooking and using food as medicine to keep myself and my family healthy. There is nothing better than a home cooked meal surrounded by loved ones.
Functional medicine is the science of health and maintaining function. It takes an individualized approach to figure out how and why an illness occurs in the first place and aims to reverse disease and restore health by getting to the root cause. Unlike conventional medicine which often looks at the body as separate, single systems and lacks time and emphasis on true wellness and disease prevention, functional medicine is a systems biology approach, looking at the body as a whole to find internal balance. Integrative medicine is blending the best of conventional and functional medicine with a focus on lifestyle interventions for optimal outcomes. Wild Rice Wellness is a Colorado based Functional Medicine Practice.
I grew up in a small town, Menominee, in Michigan’s beautiful Upper Peninsula. Menominee means “Wild Rice People” in the Ojibwe language. Historically, the Menominee and Ojibwe tribes harvested this sacred crop along the shores of Lake Michigan and according to Menominee tradition this was a sacred ritual. It seemed fitting to use a name that takes me back to the roots of my hometown and reflects the food first approach used in functional and integrative medicine.
Welcome to Wild Rice Wellness, Rooted in Health – Colorado Functional Medicine.
