DEANNA M. CHERRONE, MD

 

I always dreamed of becoming a doctor so that I could help people. After graduating from Hamilton College with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychobiology, I decided to attend St. George's University School of Medicine to pursue my dream. This would prove to be one of the best decisions of my life. I have always had a passion for learning and my medical school experience only fueled that fire. Learning about the human body was so exciting to me that I could often be found in the anatomy lab long after hours reviewing what we had been taught and doing further dissections. It is this hunger for knowledge that continues to drive me to attend conferences every year to stay current with the latest information that will help me to best serve my patients.

 

I completed my Internal Medicine/Primary Care Residency at the University of Connecticut in July of 1991 and received my board certification in Internal Medicine that same year. I served an additional year as Chief Medical Resident and then began working full time as an Emergency Room Physician. The ER experience was both exhilarating and disquieting. Exposure to life and death situations required that I keep my emotions in check to get through each shift. I stopped working after my first child was born and during that time decided that the demands of the ER were not suitable for our young family. I have to say that as much as I love my patients and practicing medicine, I feel being a mother defines me at my core more than any degree or certification ever could.

 

I decided to join a conventional Internal Medicine practice when I was ready to return to work. In that setting I was able to develop close relationships with my patients which I found to be very fulfilling. I took additional time off when my second child was born. I cherished the time spent with my children in their most formative years and during that period obtained my recertification in Internal Medicine. I dreaded the thought of returning to a practice setting where I would be expected to see over 25 patients a day to "meet my numbers." This was not how I wanted to practice medicine.

 

I was first exposed to Functional Medicine when my own personal health challenges were not being effectively addressed by conventional medicine. I found the Functional Medicine approach to be directly in alignment with my passion to teach patients how to take care of their bodies so that they could prevent the onset of disease. I decided to attend a conference called Food As Medicine. This was a major turning point in my career. In 2004, I began my training in Functional Medicine which provided me with new information and tools to care for patients in different, yet very effective ways. I opened Natural Health & Healing in 2006 and have been practicing Functional Medicine ever since. In 2015, I received my Functional Medicine certification from the Institute of Functional Medicine. To keep up to date with the ever expanding world of new information, I attend annual conferences including: IFM - Institute of Functional Medicine, ILADS - International Lyme and Associated Disease Society and SHEICON - Seeking Health Educational Institute Conference.

 

I love practicing Functional Medicine. Spending the time needed to explore, in depth, each patient's unique history and to develop a partnership is very rewarding to me. Understanding what drives a patient and the obstacles that get them stuck enables me to recommend strategies to help them succeed. I also find applying the biochemistry that I learned in medical school to each patient and seeing the positive results to be extremely gratifying. I truly believe that Functional Medicine provides the necessary framework for how medicine is meant to be practiced and I am delighted to be utilizing and promoting this new medical model.

 

My passions outside of work include travel, reading, cooking, playing tennis socially and competitively, spinning, hiking, yoga and spending quality time with my family and friends.