Dr. Onyema Okolo, MD

It all started when…

I’d always had an idea of the professional path I wanted to take, but only up to a certain point. I knew I wanted to be a doctor. I had the same interests that most people in this field have: I wanted to take care of people, treat diseases, and I was good at science.

Things changed as I entered the end of my 4th year of medical school and really took a closer look at my interests. I knew it almost as clearly as I knew myself: I was going to be an Oncologist. I was going to treat cancer. And so, that journey began.

While in residency training, I felt almost dissatisfied with simply “treating” people. There was so much more that I could be doing… but what was it? I wanted to learn more about preventive medicine, about self care, about food as medicine, about meditation and movement. I wanted to learn about healthcare accessibility, health equity, and the provision of good lifestyle practices to EVERYONE, not just certain people. I wanted to learn about how to LIVE BETTER.

Kismit /’kizmit, ‘kız,met/ noun destiny; fate

The answer to my questions, my yearnings, were right outside my door, and I mean this almost literally. At the time that I began to look into programs for my hematology & oncology fellowship, I was also doing a lot of reading and research about integrative medicine. And guess what: I lived and worked in the birthplace of Integrative Medicine, and I had just been accepted into a highly rated, NCI designated hematology & oncology fellowship program at the same institution. I said, “ok universe, lets do this”. And the rest, is as I like to say… the beginning.

***The views expressed on this website are my own and should be interpreted as general information and not medical advise. Always seek specific medical advise from your doctor.