Katerina (Kathy) Tsapos Parmele, MD, FACEP, IFMCP

I have been an attending emergency physician since graduating from the University of Pittsburgh residency program in 2000. Prior to that I went to med school at the University of Pennsylvania, college at Harvard, and was an immigrant to the United States from Greece in 1978. I have received my certification in Functional Medicine through the Institute of Functional Medicine , and I am fortunate to blend the careers of emergency medicine and functional medicine. I am the proud mother of two college students. I am also an endurance athlete having completed multiple marathons and Ironman triathlons, as well as the iconic Coast to Coast New Zealand Multisport Race. SUch that I grew up in Greece, it's only natural that I am a huge advocate of the Mediterranean diet. I'm also a member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and have a CHEF Coach certificate from Harvard (Culinary Health Education Fundamentals).

Medicine has been my calling since volunteering at the Boston Children's Hospital during college. I feel that I have done much good in this world through my chosen career. The more I practice medicine, the more I realize that it is an art, and that with experience comes wisdom. Unfortunately the stressors of medicine in general, and emergency medicine in particular, frequently left me sitting on the floor of my living room sobbing, not wanting to face the fact that I had to take a nap in order to prepare for yet another night shift. I was burned out. I felt weak and ineffective. I was getting frustrated that patients were seeking my help, but that I was too emotionally drained to even help myself. IS THIS why I went into medicine?

I realized that I needed to make a change, and I needed to help other clinicians in the process. I realized that I'm not alone. The more I started talking about it, the more I realized how incredibly ubiquitous these feeling are. I decided I needed to do give health professionals a voice in a safe, non-judgmental forum. That is why I created this space, for ALL of us. The more we connect, the more we share, the more we can endure, fight, and thrive, spreading good energy to those whose lives we touch.