Pamela Pesta, RPh, IFMCP.
1. What's your practice focus and what kind of clients knock on your door ?
My practice has evolved over time, and I now get a lot more patients with long covid/long vax autoimmunity. My passion is in the health optimization and longevity space as my goal for myself and my patients is to live a healthy life for as long as possible. I also try to encourage people that nature is the body's best answer to health, and we all have the power to heal within provided we recognize our connection to nature and community.
2. Tell us about yourself.
My passion began as a pharmacist watching my profession go from having a goal of helping people get well to the pharmacy’s goal of how many prescriptions and vaccines we could get people to take. Then I witnessed my own parents go through a broken medical system in the worst way at a time when it was needed the most. I walked away from my pharmacy job, and I found my way to a compounding pharmacy that included functional medicine. There I discovered my passion and what I was meant to do.
3. Tell us the story of a patient who you are most proud of helping.
My mom is the person I am the most proud of helping with alternative ways of treating the cancer she had. She was discharged from oncology saying there was no options for her since she couldn’t tolerate all the toxic choices that she was given. Through nutrition and medicinal mushrooms she was doing so much better, until she eventually suffered a fatal heart attack from the chemotherapy she was given. This opened my eyes to the power of nutrition and especially those mushrooms!
4. What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a practitioner in private practice?
It’s difficult as a solo practitioner to help all the people that need help, and I sometimes find it hard to keep boundaries which I need for my own well-being. I also find it challenging to be compassionate without taking on other people’s emotions as well.
5. What are the top 3 tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a private practice today?\
These would be my pieces of advice:
- Know your worth and don’t be afraid to charge for it.
- Set clear boundaries so people don’t take advantage of your compassion and generosity.
- Don’t be afraid to refer out to another clinician if you think someone else would be a better fit