Dr Kate Thomsen MD, MPH, ABOIM

My medical training in Family Medicine and women's health along with my former career as an environmentalist have given me a unique vantage point in my consultations with patients. I view health as an ecosystem, looking at how a patient is functioning as a whole - not as pieces or parts.

Functional Medicine gave me effective tools to both evaluate and treat a person in their ecosystem. It is a revolutionary way of thinking and has gained serious momentum as the incidence of chronic disease climbs and a healthy lifestyle and environment elude many. People have become tired of hearing, “I don’t know what you have” or better yet, “I don’t believe you have these symptoms” and then, “but here, take this pill.”

Functional Medicine has a systematic and organized way of looking at an individual’s health regardless of their “diagnosis”:

• a timeline of symptoms and triggers
• a way to detect imbalances in 7 basic physiologic processes that includes mental, emotional and spiritual aspects, and
• a comprehensive evaluation of lifestyle factors that can be contributing.

I was taught to listen deeply, evaluate with a comprehensive physical exam and laboratory testing and develop a plan of action in collaboration with the patient. Sometimes we are working on prevention of disease, sometimes we are working on eliminating or reducing symptoms or a condition - but we are always unravelling imbalances and finding clues that can move us forward in our health goals.

I am proud to be among the first graduating class of the Institute for Functional Medicine's rigorous certification program in 2013. I became board certified by the newly created American Board of Integrative Medicine in 2017. I have been practicing Functional, Integrative and Holistic medicine since 1997 – over 20 years!!! I love being a “medical detective” in search of the root causes of symptoms and conditions. I am excited to be on the forefront of the new medicine aimed at prevention and the amelioration of chronic disease.

Highlights of My Educational Background:

• Residency trained in Family Medicine with Board Certification in 1992
• Created and completed the first Women’s Health Fellowship in Family Medicine in the country in 1994
• Completed Masters degree in Public Health (MPH) in 1995
• Academic faculty appointment at Rutgers - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School until 1996
• Medical Director of the national organization, Planned Parenthood Federation of America until 2001
• Completed Herbal Therapeutics, School of Botanical Medicine training in 2005
• Opened a private practice in Integrative, Holistic and Functional Medicine in 1997
• Institute for Functional Medicine Certified practitioner 2013
• Board Certified by the American Board of Integrative Medicine (ABOIM) 2017
• Countless hours of course work and self-study in Integrative, Holistic and Functional Medicine - ongoing