Here at WellBe, we talk a lot about functional medicine, which is a science-based system of medicine that focuses on finding the underlying cause of disease through a personalized approach to address the patient’s needs. But unfortunately, functional medicine hasn’t historically been widely available for people looking to get better. Robin Berzin, the founder and CEO of Parsley Health, is on a mission to change that. Parsley Health is the only primary care health practice based on functional medicine, with an approach that focuses on prevention, nutrition and wellness as well as cutting-edge medicine to help people get and stay healthy. Dr. Berzin sat down with us to talk about her professional journey and how Parsley Health intends to change the face of healthcare.
*This is a short clip from our interview with Dr. Berzin. Click here to watch the whole thing!*
You can also listen to an audio version of our interview with Robin Berzin on The WellBe Podcast.
Robin Berzin’s Journey to Founding Parsley Health
After graduating college, Dr. Berzin took a job in New York City prosecuting securities fraud with the U.S. Attorney. Like many college grads, she was tired, stressed, and not pursuing her true passion.
It was during this time, while in a yoga class, that she had a lightbulb go off: she used yoga to help keep herself healthy and sane, and knew that it could do the same for other people — but most people didn’t have the knowledge, motivation, or resources to tap into lifestyle choices like yoga that could help prevent disease. From her public health classes in college, she also knew that 86% of diseases today are chronic and lifestyle-driven. The combo of studying public health in college and seeing her dad’s experience as a primary care doctor showed her that medicine alone wasn’t the solution— that things like yoga, nutrition, meditation, and lifestyle changes needed to be the first line of defense in preventing disease.
In that moment, she made the decision to go to medical school so that she could help people heal and prevent disease in a more holistic way.
So Dr. Berzin went to med school at Columbia University, with the goal of getting a solid conventional medicine education that she could use to help patients in a nonconventional way.
“I went there with the desire to practice medicine in a different way,” she says, “which made me really different from day one at a place where pretty much everyone wants to be a cardiac surgeon.”
After graduation, Dr. Berzin trained at The Institute for Functional Medicine. As she got deeper into her training, Berzin realized that there was a vicious cycle perpetuating the lack of access to functional medicine in our country:
Because most practices and insurance plans don’t provide functional medicine care for patients, many med school students choose not to pursue functional medicine out of fear that they won’t be able to find a job afterward. She needed to find a way to not only make functional medicine accessible for people, but also provide a training ground for doctors who want to practice medicine this way.
And that’s exactly what she did. In 2015, Dr. Berzin founded Parsley Health, a boutique healthcare provider focused on functional medicine. Patients pay a monthly fee (which is lower than what some other functional docs charge for appointments) that includes 60- to 75-minute doctors’ appointments (hello, have you ever talked that long with your GP?), visits with a health coach, and unlimited email access to their team.
The Role of Health Coaches in Parsley Health
One of the things that sets Parsley Health apart from other healthcare practices is the fact that every membership includes a health coach. Dr. Berzin says that, because there’s not a lot of knowledge around what a health coach does (btw if you don’t know this, check out our explainer!), clients are often confused about why they need one.
“Well, think of it this way,” Dr. Berzin explains. “Even Beyonce has a voice coach. Every top athlete has a coach, right? IIf you want to perform at the highest level, you need support.” That’s what the health coaches at Parsley Health do: provide support.
When a member comes to Parsley Health, they get a seven-part plan, which includes:
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Nutrition
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Supplements
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Medications
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Mental health
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Exercise
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In-depth testing
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A health coach
Hello, can you recommend anyone in the Augusta/Martinez/Evans/Grovetown, Georgia area?
Thank you!
Hi Warren,
Our concierge service is offline at the moment due to Adrienne being on maternity leave, so we are unable to do a custom search for you. Once that service is back online, we will be making an announcement.
Thank you for visiting the site!
Team WellBe