Kathy Welshman, a registered nurse and recent graduate of the Center’s Integrative Health & Lifestyle program (IHeLp) and Integrative Health Coaching program, attended the Nutrition & Health Conference in Phoenix last spring where she was introduced to one of the Center’s Fellowship alumni, Vivian Kominos, MD. It turned out that Vivian works at Hackensack Meridian Integrative Health & Medicine in New Jersey, just a few minutes from Kathy’s home! In addition, the program’s medical director, David C. Leopold, MD, is also an alumnus, having completed the Fellowship as well. Since their connection at the conference, Kathy has been hired for what she says is her dream job: an RN Integrative Health Coach at Hackensack Meridian Health. She is not only coaching Dr. Kominos’ patients, but those of the entire team: integrative advanced practice nurse, acupuncturist, health psychologist, nutritionist and massage therapist. This is truly a team approach. Kathy is also working with a team of other health coaches to develop and deliver new programs within the Hackensack Meridian Health network to help patients learn about self-care and to feel empowered to manage their own health, while learning new life skills. Dream job, indeed!
Congrats to Kathy and Vivian, both, for building and supporting an integrative health community in their area and helping us show how an integrative team approach to good healthcare is the future of medicine!
