About Neeti Sharma, MD
Dr. Neeti Sharma is a Board-Certified Internal Medicine Physician specializing in Integrative and Functional medicine approaches. During her career she has worked at multiple hospitals, clinics and has been part of Internal Medicine residency faculty, helping shape future physicians. Her interest in the integrative approach began as she continued to see that the current healthcare system was not designed to understand and cure the underlying cause of a patient’s chronic health condition but more so as a bandaid. She is very dedicated and passionate about learning and is continuing her education at the University of Arizona Integrative health fellowship under Dr. Andrew Weil and is getting certified in functional medicine by the Institute of Functional Medicine under Dr. Mark Hyman.
She believes that each patient and how they interact with the physical world is complex and unique. The current healthcare model uses a one-dimensional view to look at 3-dimensional patient; applying an integrative approach helps patients understand their own physiology and how the connection between mind, body and spirit plays into health or disease. She received her Bachelor’s of Science in Microbiology from University of Washington, Seattle, her MD from Windsor University School of medicine and completed her Internal Medicine Residency at West Suburban Medical Center. She believes that the manifestations of physiological disease are preceded by a dysfunction that can be noted by the patient as vague symptoms and simply “not feeling like themselves” but not labelled as a “diagnosis”. The premise of integrative/functional approach is that our bodies are trying to keep things in balance and whenever things are imbalanced, we will hear the warning signals far before we see the dysfunction’s full manifestation as a disease, that can be diagnosed in the conventional model. This time between dysfunction and disease is the golden period, where working with a practitioner in getting things back in balance can prevent the disease from manifesting completely.
Dr. Sharma has received many awards and accolades for patient satisfaction during her time at Franciscan Hospital system. She is compassionate, kind and a good listener. Through her own struggles with burn out in the conventional medicine model, her passion and belief in the integrative/functional model strengthened. “I believe that emotional, physical, mental and spiritual health is available and within reach to most who wish to live a full and happy life in this world of chaos, I would like to help patients achieve this, if they are willing to go a journey of self-discovery and recovery.”
Specialties include: gut health (including small intestinal bacterial overgrowth [SIBO], dysbiosis, IBS, and inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]), autoimmune conditions, burnout, adrenal health, anti-aging, and hormone health.