Dr. Dawn will help you get to the Root Cause of your symptoms
Dr. Dawn began her Functional Medicine studies with American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine with the purpose of optimizing the hormonal health of her reproductive age and postmenopausal clients.
Why did you get involved with Functional Medicine? Is there a personal story?
I first was interested in functional medicine after a long discussion with a chiropractor that I had just met. He used the term "functional medicine" and shared with me all his success stories using a root cause approach. At that time, I was currently working in an internal medicine office, where I was feeling dissatisfied with the healthcare services that was being provided. Patients would come to me for their annual physicals and 3-month follow-ups with minimal improvements to their health conditions. I frequently treated patients with diabetes, hyperlipidemia, insomnia, anxiety and depression, hypothyroidism to name a few, mostly using pharmaceuticals and a bit of education on diet and exercises. I knew the importance of healthy food and lifestyle choices, however, I did not have the adequate training or toolkit to provide these services. Many nursing programs did not focus their curriculum on this back then.
On my own, I started to look into nutritional healing, and my curiosity led me to alternative therapies including traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, and what really sparked my interest, functional medicine. It was during the pandemic when I decided to begin my training at the Institute of Functional Medicine. As a clinician who grew up in a household that believed in herbal remedies to aide our illnesses, it was important to me that I pursued a more holistic approach. My beloved family members are constantly looking for a more holistic approach. I want to be able to be able to promote wellness to my family and patients using a comprehensive and realistic approach.
What’s your personal mission as a clinician?
My personal mission as a clinician is to empower others to enhance their well-being. Using a root cause approach, patients can gain better understanding as to what has went wrong with their health, and then once that concept is fully understood, can I as a clinician then provide them with the recommendations to fully recover. I believe knowledge is powerful.
What’s your favorite story of helping a patient?
There are countless favorite stories to share related to helping patients. One of the best parts is when the patient states they feel so much better during their medical progress exams. Often times, they come to us with high medical symptom questionnaire scores and multiple complaints. After being seen by the registered dietitian and a functional medicine practitioner, where diet has been cleaned up and herbals have been recommended, they already report 50% or often more improvement compared to when they first started with RCMC.
I saw many patients that came in for IV therapies and this provided them the extra boost they needed to keep them thriving. My favorite part was to see how a patient's demeanor would changes after few weeks of IV therapy. Using IV Ozone/UBI therapies, a patient previously reported fatigue and fibromyalgia would later report great energy, mobility, and positive attitude. Another memorable success was in a patient who struggled with hair loss. The RCMC team worked together to treating the patient's gut infections first, then later to repairing the cells, we integrated IV therapies consisting of amino acids and glutathione, which displayed significant improvement in her hair growth and confidence.
Why has conventional medicine failed to address chronic disease?
Conventional medicine has failed to address chronic diseases because the focus on health management is constantly on the WHAT. Instead of looking at WHAT can quickly treat the patient's symptoms, there needs to be an emphasis on WHY did it happen in the first place.
Meet Your Care Team
Dr. Vikki Petersen
Dr. Richard Petersen
Dr. Sterling Petersen
Dr. Beth Segerholm