We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Anagha Suresh a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Anagha thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

After over 15 years working as a dedicated, board- certified pediatrician, I felt increasingly frustrated and helpless observing a growing population of children struggling with chronic , recurring illness despite excellent conventional care.This professional dissatisfaction met a crisis point in my personal life : a devastating bout of chronic pain, burnout and fatigue that was not resolved by conventional medicine. This personal health crisis became my defining moment- a period where the limitations I observed in practice became the limits I experienced in my own body. Losing hope, I discovered a functional medicine practitioner who introduced a revolutionary, root cause approach to health. The success of simple foundational changes to my diet and lifestyle not only restored my health but ignited a profound career shift. This experience propelled me to pursue functional medicine training, culminating in my IFMCP certification and current focus on pediatric functional medicine. Now, practicing at Camarillo Children’s Medical Group as a pediatrician and launching Ana Functional Health and Wellness- an online functional medicine practice, my career trajectory is no longer aimed at just treating illness, but at using science-backed, holistic and root-cause structured medicine to truly heal children and empower families to flourish and thrive.

Anagha, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Anagha Suresh. I am Board certified pediatrician and a functional medicine practitioner. I work at Camarillo children’s medical group and am launching Ana Functional Heath and wellness- a functional medicine practice for children and families who seek healing from chronic health conditions like asthma, allergies, eczema, ADHD, anxiety, gut issues etc through natural and complementary diet and lifestyle changes that supplement their established treatment plans. I always try to seek and understanding of root causes of illness and find simple practical ways to create positive long lasting change .
For over 15 years, I passionately worked as a Board-Certified Pediatrician, first falling in love with child health during medical school in India and honing my clinical skills during residency at White Memorial Medical Center/Loma Linda. My decade serving an undeserved community in Oxnard, CA, profoundly shaped my understanding: I saw firsthand how environmental factors, trauma, and insecurity profoundly impact a child’s health trajectory, proving that good medicine requires more than just clinical charts.

The defining crisis came when I experienced my own descent into chronic illness—fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, anxiety, and depression. My conventional medical knowledge offered only band-aids. This personal struggle, coupled with the heartbreaking avalanche of chronic illness and mental health issues I witnessed during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, shattered my belief in symptom-focused care. I realized our entire population was getting sicker, and traditional medicine was struggling to restore true well-being.

My personal recovery through Functional Medicine was my turning point. It propelled me to study and achieve my IFMCP certification and dive deep into pediatric functional medicine training.

My Practice & My Mission
What I Do: I enjoy working at Camarillo Children’s Medical Group seeing patients from birth to 18 years old and am launching Ana Functional Health and Wellness for dedicated functional medicine treatment. My services blend rigorous conventional medical diagnosis with integrative and functional medicine strategies.

The Problem I Solve: I move beyond simply writing prescriptions. I solve the problem of chronic or recurring illness by uncovering the root causes—such as gut imbalances, chronic inflammation, or environmental exposures—that conventional medicine often overlooks.

What Sets Me Apart: My greatest strength is the balanced application of both worlds. I possess the diagnostic foundation of a pediatrician with over 15 years of experience, combined with the holistic, science-backed methodology of a functional medicine practitioner.

Work I Am Most Proud Of: Early in my career, I helped establish a Breastfeeding Promotion Program and earned my IBCLC certification, successfully advocating for foundational health and immunity in infancy. Today, I am most proud of teaching families this same principle: giving children the best foundational health to face life’s challenges, ensuring they flourish and thrive, not just survive.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

My Defining Moment: From Frustration to Functional Healing
After over 15 years as a dedicated, board-certified pediatrician, I felt increasingly frustrated and helpless observing a growing population of children struggling with chronic, recurring illnesses despite excellent conventional care. This professional dissatisfaction met a crisis point in my personal life: a devastating bout of chronic pain, burnout, and fatigue that was not resolved by conventional medicine. This personal health crisis became my defining moment—a period where the limitations I observed in practice became the limits I experienced in my own body. Losing hope, I discovered a functional medicine practitioner who introduced a revolutionary, root-cause approach to health. The success of simple, foundational changes to my diet and lifestyle not only restored my health but ignited a profound career shift. This experience propelled me to pursue functional medicine, culminating in my IFMCP certification and current focus on pediatric functional medicine. Now, practicing at Camarillo Children’s Medical Group and launching Ana Functional Health and Wellness, my career trajectory is no longer aimed at just treating illness, but at using science-backed, holistic, and root-cause structured medicine to truly heal children and empower families to flourish and thrive.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

Learning life skills- like facing challenges, problem solving, being focused on the end goal. In people facing roles like in health care where patients let their guard down and are in a very vulnerable place, Its very important to be empathetic and understand where a person is coming from,what are their daily struggles, and how much can they handle at a time. Providing personalized care while not straying from evidence based quality care is a delicate art.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.camarillochildrensmedicalgroup.com/
• Instagram: happily_heal
• Facebook: ana.md functional health
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anagha-suresh-69859757/