Functional Medicine Practitioner Spotlight: Dr. Bojana Jankovic Weatherly
3X4’s new Functional Medicine Practitioner Spotlight series features interviews with practitioners, consultants and functional medicine thought leaders to explore everything functional medicine practitioners need to know about successfully building, managing, and growing their private practice.
The following is an interview we recently had with Dr. Bojana Jankovic Weatherly, Integrative Medicine and Internal Medicine Physician at Bojana Jankovic Weatherly, MD PLLC
What can you tell us about your practice?
BJ: After years of evidence-based research, conventional medical practice, and personal experience, I realized some of the limitations of the conventional approach in medicine. Modern medicine is necessary and continues to teach us more about sophisticated pathways and mechanisms our body utilizes in health and disease. It also delivers tremendous breakthroughs in therapy. The conventional approach, however, often fails us when it comes to identifying all of the causes and triggers of our symptoms and addressing these causes with lifestyle and natural approaches.
I launched my practice in 2019 because I wanted to offer the best of general internal medicine, integrative and functional medicine modalities to my patients, in order to improve the quality of their lives. In my practice, my patients feel heard, understood and validated. They know I am invested in their care, and they know that I will share with them evidence-based strategies to work up their symptoms and support their health from a 360 degree view and from the three disciplines I am trained in. My approach is rooted in a personalized approach to each patient. I get to know each individual and her or his personal and medical story, lifestyle, and environment and use the best of evidence-based modalities that Western, Integrative, and Functional Medicine have to offer and tailor these to meet my patients’ needs and goals. Our practice also has a health coach, who supports our patients in setting and achieving their personalized health and lifestyle goals, provides accountability and support in managing stress, nutrition, sleep and other pillars of wellness. My website is drbojana.com. I offer telemedicine services to residents of New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and California. I also offer in office visits in Manhattan at 245 5th Avenue, NY, NY, 3rd floor.
What surprised you the most when you started your practice?
BJ: This wasn’t a surprise, but really more of a delight that I’d like to share: the joy I have from working with my patients, getting to know them on a profound level, creating the time and space for comprehensively supporting their health goals, doing research, collaborating with my colleagues – all with the goal of making a meaningful, positive contribution to my patients’ lives and their health has been something truly remarkable and rewarding.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome as you built your practice? How did you overcome it?
BJ: The biggest challenge for me, as a physician, is that I have had to learn the business and administrative aspects of managing my practice on the go. Working with an excellent team, who has a growth mindset, cultivating that growth mindset in myself, and putting in long hours has helped. I am still learning – if I don’t know something, I ask and/or look it up.
What advice would you give to other practitioners considering launching their own practice?
BJ: I often talk to physicians and other healthcare practitioners who are interested in starting their own practice, or are in the early stages of starting their practice.
My advice to them:
- Follow your values and your interests
- Always act out of integrity and service
- Do your research
- Have realistic expectations about the length of time it takes to build a practice and create a financial plan for this
- Build a strong support network of colleagues and mentors
- Invest in education and further training
- Build a strong team – no one does it alone!
- Actively work on mastering your fear, if this is something that his holding you back.
What excites you most about the field of functional medicine?
BJ: As a double board certified physician in internal medicine and integrative medicine and a functional medicine doctor, I am excited to be able to apply all of these modalities to optimize my patients’ health. My approach is evidence-based, and it takes into account my patient, her/his condition, her/his circumstances, beliefs and values. Practicing in this way allows me to customize my care to each unique individual and her/his health goals using the latest scientific evidence.
Where do you see your practice 5 years from now?
BJ: I love doing what I do, and my intention is to grow my practice to be able to provide care to more patients! My vision is for my practice to continue to deliver excellent, evidence-based care, to continue to innovate, and to continue to provide personalized care and attention to each patient.
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