We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Marianne Pinkston MD. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Marianne below.
Marianne , appreciate you joining us today. We love heartwarming stories – do you have a heartwarming story from your career to share?
All of us struggle. All of us have mental, emotional, and physical struggles that either drive us to fight and succeed then use to inspire or fail to a life of painful internal struggle and regret. My story is no better, worse, no different than anyone else’s. I just chose to rise above. I pray my story helps someone else… if only one person… do the same.
Marianne , 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?
From my childhood, I remember my grandfather infusing me with an understanding of nature, science, biology, and how we interact to heal. From the time I could remember, I wanted to be a healer and specifically a doctor. I don’t remember any other desire. Attaining my education was never an easy one, my parents instilled in me a very strong work ethic. I never took no for an answer. No you couldn’t get into this college, no you are a female and can’t be a doctor, no you can’t go to this medical school or no you are not accepted… no was not in my vocabulary. I sat outside the Dean’s office at UTHSCSA School of Medicine and told Dr Carlos Pestana I was entering medical school, there is just no other way. I was accepted 2 weeks later. I fought the “weed out” system and in my 4th year of Medical School applied for the astronaut program at NASA, and was to enter the military as a Captain and fly F16’s but in my first year of residency met and married my ex-husband. I have zero regrets as he and I opened a private practice as an independent physician, still practicing today as one of the last physicians to own a private practice. Against all odds, I am an independent practitioner still. I was the first intern class at Christus Santa Rosa Family Practice Residency Program. I opened my practice 23 years ago and still in practice. I had three beautiful children, 2 girls and a boy now 15/18/21, where I spent a total of 7 months of bed rest to deliver spread across the three and even died in labor with one. In 2007, I developed Rheumatoid Arthritis ans Autoimmune Hepatitis and with terrible health and medications/ steroid medications, I ballooned to 300lbs. I developed diabetes, melanoma skin cancer not once but twice, and more. During these tremendously difficult years, unable to walk or work at times, I continued private practice. Doctors put me through what many of my patients go through and that is to be told “we cannot find anything wrong with you, we will send you to a psychiatrist.” Knowing in my heart that while I was seeing so many sick patients that had illnesses not explained through conventional medicine and due to the fact not one doctor took me seriously nor defined what was wrong with me, I turned to Functional Medicine, now called Integrative Medicine, and have spent 15 years and over $20,000 in educational programs and fellowships to become the best self and patient advocate and practitioner I can be. I opened one of the first Med Spa practices in town before the practice of aesthetics became a household name. I have seen over 40k patients in San Antonio and Texas and all over the US that have come to me for help. I have taught almost 20k hours to student practitioners, I have worked on myself losing 162lbs and prepping for fitness competitions, all while trying over 12 medications for my arthritis and cancer and suffering horrific and chronic, daily pain and fighting cancer, divorce, children’s illness, intense struggle with business while being embezzled and bankruptcy trying to continue my practice ensuring my patients have the best, uninterrupted care possible and protect the lives of my children. My family has all but passed and yet I have awakened every day, intent on being the best physician, parent, educator, and person possible. I have a radio show Sundays on AM 930 at 4pm which podcasts to all podcast platforms and YouTube for over a year (I spent 2 years on KTSA AM 550 for two years.) I am on the board of the Global Pain Association and a part of the San Antonio Women’s Chamber of Commerce, and was briefly Vice Chair of the local Arthritis Foundation of South Texas. I am also one of the Health Editors for SAMonthly Magazine I continue to have debilitating arthritis that continues to advance, an almost fused ankle, but I continue to run on a treadmill and lift weights 3-5 times a week maintaining my weight loss for 5 years. I am currently writing books, speaking locally and nationally and working with many foundations and charities to spread the word that “never take no for an answer.” I have farther to go and more to do and I have no plans at 53 to do anything but live my dreams. I even still plan to be a pilot one day. I am specialist of Natural or BioIdentical Hormone Therapy, autoimmune illness, thyroid, adrenal illnesses etc and still practice Family Medicine with an Integrative twist. I mix the best of both worlds of contemporary allopathic medicine and integrative medicine and look for the underlying mechanisms of illness instead of bandaids to illness and all with the ethics and morality I feel are lost to medicine today. I am a dying breed fighting to the end. I am now also living a dream as Medical Director of the LaValle Performance Health Center under the amazing Jim LaValle and Ray Solano of PDLabs located in Cedar Park, TX, Austin area to open late 2023
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
I tell my children and advise all who are searching for their best life to pick a job in or work and study in a field that you love because you will spend the rest of your life working more than living and you better do what you LOVE and are passionate about.
“Do what you love and love what you do and be kind doing it” -Pinkstonism
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Reputation is EVERYTHING. If you are not willing to put your heart into and your name on your work and have the pride behind your toil and passion then you have no business being in business. My father taught me that work ethic isn’t just showing up and sometimes but throwing yourself into your work heart, soul and willing to die doing it. People only respect you for showing up 100% and for treating them with superior respect not partial. Your reputation is what people will say about you when you are gone and justified by the truth people understood to be your passion. They will only remember how you treated them.
Contact Info:
- Website: Drpbetterlife.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=6ph0q42dnrw8&utm_content=3t2iy9
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pinkston4life
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-pinkston-md-857ba069
- Twitter: @Pinkston4life
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCYjldoy0jVxllz_GtZcNciQ
- Other: Pinkstonfamilypracticesa.com office website Blog drpbetterlife.com Radio website https://930amtheanswer.com/radioshow/9350