I am a board certified Family Medicine, Lifestyle Medicine and Obesity Medicine physician. In addition, I am certified in Plant-Based Nutrition through the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies. 
 
At Coastal Vitality MD, I work with people who want to lose excess weight, prevent or reverse chronic disease, or simply promote health and longevity.  Using a customized combination of powerful lifestyle tools — especially whole food plant-based nutrition — supplemented by weight loss medication when appropriate, I help each of my clients live their healthiest life.

I am a Pediatrician and Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist with practice focus on pediatric brain tumors, survivorship and genetic cancer predisposition.  I am a longtime member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and believe that many lifestyle factors but especially nutrition, has a big impact on cancer development and survivorship.

I am whole food, plant-based nutrition certified nephrologist with The Kidney and Hypertension Center in Cincinnati, OH.  I have seen rate of function decline slow down in patients who have changed their eating habits. 

Dr. Keary O’Connor is a board-certified family medicine physician who is also a diplomate of both the American Board of Obesity Medicine and the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine. She has practiced in primary care for over 14 years and currently resides in Ohio. Dr. O’Connor is a graduate of Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine and served on active duty in the U.S. Army where she began to develop her passion for whole food plant-based eating and using lifestyle interventions as treatment options for her patients.

Training Institutions: Dr. O’Connor attended the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Missouri and completed her residency at Metro Health Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She was a Leadership and Integrative Healthcare Fellow at Duke University and received a Certificate in Medical Nutrition from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York and her Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies.

Lifestyle Telemedicine

I have been a Physician Associate since 2005, and currently work in Family Medicine. I found Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine on my own when I found that my own health was going downhill. While I was improving my own health, I started using Lifestyle Medicine to improve the health of my patients and family. I have also been teaching free Nutrition/Lifestyle Medicine classes in my community since 2018. I enjoy walking, riding bicycles, traveling, watching sports, and spending time with my wife and family. 

Dr. Thieme graduated from Brigham Young University in 1990, and completed optometry school at the University of California, Berkeley in 1994. He opened MERIDIAN FAMILY EYECARE in 1995, and moved the practice to a new building in 2009. Dr. Thieme enjoys all aspects of eye care including eye health exams for glasses and contact lenses, glaucoma, macular degeneration, and surgical care of cataract and LASIK patients. His whole-body approach to eye disease and systemic conditions (diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol, and auto-immune diseases) is a focus in his work.   Dr. Thieme lives in Meridian with his wife, Iris and their children. Two are still at home while the other four are now grown. The family enjoys boating, hiking and all outdoor activities.

I trained at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, then completed Residency in Family Medicine in Martinez, CA, am Board Certified in Family Medicine and am certified in Functional Medicine since 2013.   
I embrace a Food First and Lifestyle Medicine approach to medicine as I continue to recognize the limitations of allopathic medicine in managing chronic disease, while recognizing the challenges that many of us have in implementing healthy lifestyle choices.

I am devoted to addressing the ever increasing prevalence of chronic conditions in our population. I grew frustrated over the years with how chronic conditions are approached in our current healthcare paradigm. I sought further training in areas such as lifestyle medicine, obesity medicine, plant-based nutrition, health coaching, and adopted a new approach by combining this knowledge. After transforming my own health, I decided it was time to offer this approach to my patients as well. I am grateful to have found similarly minded peers in healthcare, who continue to inspire and teach me through sharing experiences and knowledge. Finding opportunities to learn and grow is one of my favorite things to do, and when I feel the most alive. I am excited to announce that very soon I will be opening the doors to my passion project: The Healthy Conditions clinic.

I am a plant-based nutrition specialist focusing on teaching people to transition to a plant-based diet. I am a Certified Life Coach, Nutrition Studies Graduate and I’m Forks Over Knives trained in plant-based culinary school. I work closely with my clients’ doctors and require blood work and doctor’s visits during their transition to assure safety and the correct use of medications. I have been studying and practicing natural healing for over 40 years and bring my love of healing to everything I do. I have a strong belief in the power of our bodies to heal if we give them a chance. I offer one on one coaching, teach cooking classes, do cooking demos and work with anyone transitioning to or maintaining a plant-based lifestyle. I enjoy keeping active with gardening, swimming, cycling, and running after grand kids. The field of whole food plant-based medicine is exciting! It is a total joy to watch my clients come alive and thrive as they adopt this lifestyle. The fact that plant-based living supports the planet, our health and reduces animal suffering makes it all the more attractive!

Direct Primary Care allows me the opportunity to be the educator and teammate in care.
Throughout my almost 15 years of practice in our traditional healthcare delivery system, the idea of providing an excellent provider to patient relationship has been sold to patients by insurance companies and healthcare systems over and over again. In reality, that level of communication, trust and understanding is rarely attainable when the expectation is to see even 25 patients in one day, let alone the 30 or 40 patients that are being evaluated by one practitioner in some settings.

As the time we have for patients has decreased, the time required to be reimbursed by the insurer has increased. Insurance has dictated what good medical care is by deconstructing the patient-provider relationship and turning it into checkboxes. Clicking boxes is robotic, teaches us not to think for ourselves and generally does not in any way contribute to a functional relationship between patients and providers.

Direct Primary Care is the ladder I’m climbing to get out of those boxes so that I can truly help people. In this model I will be free to practice medicine in its most effective form. Instead of having 5 minutes to talk to my patient about what is really important to them, I will have 45-60 minutes to listen, gather information, educate and participate in shared decision making. In comparison to the almost 2000 patients I had as an employed outpatient primary care provider, my goal is a maximum of 500. My patients will have access to me without having to wait for 3 weeks and without having to explain their needs to several people before ever seeing me.

By making home visits and utilizing technologies such as secured messaging and virtual interaction, I can truly be the trusted resource, teammate, cheerleader, consoler and advocate that I’ve always wanted to be.

Dr. Rakesh Jotwani, aka Dr. Rak (“rock”), became passionate about helping others make lifestyle changes after his own health dramatically improved with lifestyle changes. Dr. Rak completed his undergraduate degree in neuroscience at Duke University, his medical degree from the University of Chicago, and his internal medicine residency training at the University of California in San Francisco.He is dual board certified in Internal Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine. He has worked in direct patient care for over a decade, first as a hospital physician, then as a primary care physician. He previously served as the Director of Lifestyle Medicine for a large community hospital in San Francisco.  
Dr. Rak has an avid interest in how we can effectively change our habits, and regularly speaks about this subject to other healthcare providers across the United States.Dr. Rak is also an active member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s subgroup HEAL (Health Equity Achieved Through Lifestyle). Dr. Rak is married and has three kids.  Outside of work, he enjoys spending time cooking and enjoying plant-based meals, hiking, and strength training.

Kim Scheuer, MD, began her career as a traditional Family Practice physician. Despite eating healthier than most Americans and believing she was fit, she struggled with weight issues until age 47. While searching for a way to decrease her family history of cancer risk, Kim read The China Study. What she learned started a long and “fruitful” journey of discovering how to use a Whole Food Plant-Based Diet and Lifestyle Medicine to prevent, treat, and reverse chronic disease’s root causes. For the first time in her career, she could genuinely help herself and her patients heal rather than merely treat the symptoms of illnesses. One of her favorite parts of her new way of practicing medicine is to de-prescribe medications and help her patients become “younger every year” by adopting healthier lifestyle choices.
Dr. Kim Scheuer is board certified in both Family Practice and Lifestyle Medicine. She is conversant in Spanish and American Sign Language. She is licensed to see patients in over 20 states. Kim now lives and benefits from the lifestyle she recommends for her patients. She loves to share what she has learned with all who want to be healthier and happier.

Love.Life Telehealth is a national telemedicine service that makes lifestyle medicine available to everyone. Physicians are available now to provide licensed medical care to patients in all 50 US states and Washington D.C. via telemedicine from the comfort of your own homw.  International lifestyle medicine consultations are also available, for people outside of the US. 
 
Using secure video conferencing and patient portal technologies, Love.Life Telehealth provides licensed medical care for patients who are focused on optimal wellness or have chronic disease and other medical conditions including, but not limited to diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, obesity, autoimmune diseases, inflammation, and digestive issues. These conditions and overall wellness needs are addressed through lifestyle medicine—the powerful, evidence-based practice of promoting healthy behaviors and lifestyle modification, including a whole food, plant-based diet.

Dr. Kristi Moffat is board-certified in family medicine. She has a special interest in women’s health, sports injuries and well-child visits.

Philosophy of Care
I believe in empowering you to make informed decisions regarding your health.

Experience
Year began practicing: 2001

Medical School
The Chicago Medical School, FUHS | Chicago, IL

Residency
Central Washington Family Medicine | Yakima, WA

I am a board-certified dermatologist who believes that lifestyle changes are the best way to achieve health and wellness. Many skin diseases are caused or exacerbated by the standard American diet such as acne, psoriasis, eczema, hidradenitis suppurativa, and autoimmune skin conditions.
Following a whole food, plant-based eating pattern along with sun protection will help you prevent and reverse many skin diseases.  I would be honored help you on your skin wellness journey.