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

Hi Dr. Rochelle, thanks for joining us today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

After years of seeing numerous physicians and worrying about my health, I was finally diagnosed with Interstitial Cystitis. I felt at my lowest point because it seemed that my doctors, weren’t listening to what I had to say. They were only focused on quickly prescribing me drugs to suppress my symptoms. I was extremely upset with how little compassion was shown for the process of figuring out what was happening to me. Finally, I met my urologist who worked with a naturopathic physician in the clinic. Both listened to my symptoms and were dedicated to heal my overall health problem instead of prescribing medications for each symptom. Today, my own healing consists of both conventional and naturopathic medicine but this experience allowed me to observe the true effects that naturopathic medicine has. If it weren’t for my own health struggles opening the doors to naturopathic medicine I wouldn’t feel so strongly about how well it works. The success of my naturopathic and conventional medicine appointment all started with how well the physicians listened to my story. I feel this is an important part of being a physician. Due to my experiences what is important to me about being a naturopathic physician is listening to my patients in depth and providing the best therapies I can in order to facilitate the body’s natural ability to heal instead of prescribing separate drugs for each symptom, if it is safe to do so.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a licensed Naturopathic Primary Care Physician in the state of Washington. I completed a year of residency focused in family medicine and pediatrics. In my office I offer acute visits, well child exams, sports physicals, vaccine counseling, annual exams/PAPs, mental health counseling, pelvic floor therapy and soon pessary fittings. I earned my Doctorate degree from Bastyr University, where I received additional training in women’s health, lactation management and pediatrics from advanced courses and clinical rotations. Prior to medical school, I received my Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Washington, then joined the rewarding field of organ and tissue donation by working as a tissue recovery specialist for three years. I believe representation is extremely important. My passion encompasses ensuring that people from all ethnic backgrounds receive great healthcare. Due to my own difficult health journey, I am committed to providing individualized care for my patients through an integrative approach. I am focused on finding the root cause of the illness and establishing the foundations of health. I combine the use of naturopathic and conventional medicine in conjunction with standards of care to help my patients prevent illness and reach their optimal health. I strives to empower and educate my patients and their families to allow them to make informed decisions about their own healthcare. My primary patient base are from newborns to adults​. I accept most major insurance plans here in Washington state and my clinical areas of interest are: family medicine, fertility, newborn care, pediatrics, women’s health, postpartum care, pelvic floor therapy, interstitial cystitis, counseling, anxiety and depression.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

I think the most important thing to remember is that physicians are “practicing” medicine. This of course takes a lot of dedication and academic training to complete and get to that point but there will always be conditions and cases that come into the office that we don’t understand right away. There are going to be cases that are not “textbook” from what we learned in medical school and every time this happens it is very humbling. It’s a great reminder that we are not “all knowing” and sometimes we may need to do more research, talk with colleagues, do specialist consults and really try to understand the different processes in each system of the body to get the whole picture. It’s times like these that help us continue evolving and becoming a better physician because we are always continuing to learn new things. I believe keeping your mind open and trying to learn more about all the different things that come up in primary care is what helps me succeed in my field.

How’d you meet your business partner?

I met Dr. Sudi Baskota while I was in medical school. She was a professional teacher’s assistant for one of my classes and also one of clinic supervisors once I started doing my clinical rounds. I learned a lot from her and enjoyed her perspective on things. I then went into residency and she was working at one of the clinics I did my residency at. We then formed a friendship during that time. Later we both took a pelvic floor therapy class to become certified in integrative pelvic floor therapy and thats when we realized we both had a similar future plan for what we would want our practices to look like and the rest was history.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lotusintegrativehealthcare.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.rochellekelleppan/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dr.rochellekelleppan
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-rochelle-kelleppan-nd-2448186b/

Image Credits
Canva, Post Productions Photography & TJ Danaher Photography