Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dr. Ashley Maltz. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Dr. Ashley, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

For me, there were many defining moments. But what I recall most occurred as a medical student. Every morning as I was rounding on my assigned patients in the hospital, I would watch as their breakfasts arrived. I would check the meals out and wonder how the food going in to their mouths was affecting their disease states. Patients admitted with various medical issues (from uncontrolled Diabetes Mellitus to dangerously high blood pressures, called Hypertensive Urgency) would have me wondering what we could be doing better as a society and a medical industry to PREVENT illness instead of just treat it with expensive medications and surgeries.

I’d ask myself if it was really okay to give diabetic patients breakfasts of flour pancakes with sugar free syrup and sugary drinks while hospitalized? Where was the nutritional education and counseling? Why were anxious patients not taught to mindfulness and meditation techniques that could calm them down? Where was the physical activity training? How could we do better for these patients and the save the system a heck of a lot of money by preventing unnecessary hospitalizations?

These were the questions swirling around in my mind. And so, once I was out of residency (a long 4 years of 100 hour work weeks), I pursued training in Integrative Medicine which focuses on evidence-based modalities of health restoration and prevention and haven’t turned back!

Dr. Ashley, 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?

I am a Fellowship-trained Board Certified Integrative Medicine Physician. I completed a combined residency in Internal and Preventive Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, followed by a 2-year Clinical Integrative Medicine Fellowship at Stamford Hospital in Stamford, CT. During my Fellowship, I gained extensive training in medical acupuncture and natural pain management and concurrently completed a 1000-hour distance Fellowship in Integrative Medicine through the University of Arizona’s Andrew Weil Center For Integrative Medicine.

I use my knowledge of both complementary and mainstream medical traditions to offer up-to-date and individualized health care for her patients.

At my practice, West Holistic Medicine, in downtown Austin, we offer integrative primary care, integrative medicine consultations, functional medicine, acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, mind-body medicine, clinical nutrition and natural chronic disease management with evidence-based tools for the whole family.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I’ve had to learn to stop comparing myself and my path to others. In Austin, we are blessed with a unique mix of social media influencers, Big Tech and spiritual entrepreneurs/businesses and the population of these groups has exploded exponentially over the last 3-5 years. It can be very easy to compare myself to others in my field – maybe they have more funding or better marketing for their practice or an amazing assistant who makes amazing content for their social media accounts, etc. Or maybe they have a long wait list to be seen or they are seemingly better at biochemistry than I am.

Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that comparing myself to others is a complete waste of time and only hurts myself. I have learned I need to consciously turn off the comparison stories that pop in to my head when seeing someone seemingly more “successful” or fulfilled than me. We all have our path and we all influence play a role in helping others become more whole and healthful. And it’s an active practice.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

For me, it’s been a long game of patience and word of mouth referrals. And, I’ve found that consistent results with patients have helped. Many say my Integrative Medicine colleagues and I are some of the few physicians who actively listen and hear their concerns. And for that, they are endlessly grateful.

Additionally, I founded the Austin Wellness Collaborative, a Facebook group of over 2700 health and wellness professionals in 2017 and have consistently shown up for my community. This has built referral pipelines and relationships and has been a wonderfully supportive community for those of us who are self-employed and siloed in to solo-ish practices. It’s all been a labor of love.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.westholisticmedicine.com, ashleymaltzmd.com
• Instagram: @westholisticmedicine @ashleymaltzmd
• Facebook: @westholisticmedicine
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/west-holistic-medicine-pllc/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/west-holistic-medicine-austin?osq=west+holistic.+medicine

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The Perfect Headshot Photogtraphy