Who we are
Welcome to At the Root - a dedicated team of medical professionals who practice in a functional way. We are so glad that you are here. At the Root is committed to uncovering and addressing the underlying causes of your healthcare concerns. Your health is our top priority, and our team is here to support you every step of the way on your health journey. Here at At the Root, we believe in treating the whole person, not just the symptoms.
Meet the Team
At the Root is excited to introduce you to our wonderful healthcare team. Our team is ready to welcome and work with you towards next steps on your healing journey.
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Welcome to At the Root Functional Medicine. My name is Meredith Potrzebowski. I am an osteopathic physician. I graduated from Lincoln Memorial University - DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2011. I started my medical career in an osteopathic family medicine residency at Westview Hospital in 2011 and quickly was exposed to alternative health care. During my first year of residency I admitted a patient to the hospital that was very sick - he was taking 49 pharmaceutical medications and had over 100 allergies to medications - I quickly realized prescriptions are not the only way to achieve health.
At Westview hospital, I had the opportunity to work with many different practitioners, learning many skills I never thought | would need. I believe in treating a person, not a test result. I believe in treating patients as I would want my family treated. Being a teammate to the patient.
I began working after residency in a family medicine practice while also continuing my education in functional medicine. Functional medicine is defined as an individualized, patient- centered and science based approach to healthcare that focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of disease by looking at the whole person, not just symptoms.
I worked with my patients - merging family medicine and functional medicine, after doing this for 6 years, I was burnt out. I learned corporate medicine does not value time spent with patient, focusing on lifestyle changes, and improving a patients health trajectory. I always told patients - my goal was to spend significant time with them on the front end so they could go live their lives and not spend most of it in my office or in the hospital. In 2022, I also became an Institute for Functional Medicine Certified Practitioner.
It was during this time of my career where I was exposed to the uncomfortable side of practicing medicine for a corporation. It became difficult to be an effective physician, the way I wanted to be, with the quotas and requirements put upon me. Patients were being charged a much higher rate than what I felt was appropriate.
At the Root Functional Medicine is excited to offer longer patient visits, with time to get to the root cause of patient's concerns. We are excited to offer this in a cost effective manner. You see us when you need us and only pay for the work we do. To my former patients - welcome back. To those I have not met - I can't wait to get to know you and help you live your best life.
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My name is Alison Zolcak. I am a nurse practitioner with At the Root. I became a nurse in 2013 graduating from Purdue University. Then in 2017, I became a certified family medicine nurse practitioner graduating from Olivet Nazarene University. Throughout my nursing career, I worked on the floor in med surg, orthopedics, and neurology. Once I became a nurse practitioner, I worked in a family medicine and integrative medicine office where I met and worked directly with Dr. P. It was during that time; I really began to understand and know what functional medicine was.Over the years, I had seen numerous patients, many of which had seen multiple doctors and NPs and still were searching for answers to their health problems. Numerous patients had felt disheartened with previous providers, and they typically were given prescriptions on top of prescriptions, but they were not helping and felt like it was just masking the symptoms. Patients were not feeling heard. I began to understand the importance of finding root causes to things and looking outside of the box for more complex issues. It is so important to not only treat symptoms, but to treat the actual cause. This is what we do At the Root. We listen, we care, we focus on the root of your problems.
A major turning point that also led me toward practicing functional medicine were medical issues within my own family. Medical issues that were not getting solved with conventional medicine and only worsening. Thanks to continuing education through functional medicine courses, I have been able to expand my knowledge on how to look at the entire picture of a person and the science behind whole body system’s unit. I gained an important understanding on how our gut can affect numerous aspects of our health and how we need to take an upstream approach when it comes to identifying and treating root causes of disease. This type of approach has allowed me to take care of people in the way that they need. I am very much looking forward to taking care of YOU and working as a team to reach your healthcare goals and needs.
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Hi. I’m Kara Hutchinson, a functional nutrition coach and a face you’ll see at the front desk of At The Root. My nutrition interest started with a road trip, Reeces Pieces and a bag of Twizzlers. As it turns out, that didn’t make me feel my best and I wanted to know why. The deep dive started there, included a functional nutrition coaching and functional blood chemistry certification, and a continued love of learning about nutrition and how it can make a difference in our every day life. I started nutrition coaching in 2021, and have loved the connections I’ve made with my clients. I’m not the one who gives you a diagnosis or prescribes treatments for you, but I love to think through the why behind the symptoms you may have, help you learn about health and I will cheer you on as we figure out what makes you feel your best because every body is different, and individual care matters to me. I’m excited to work with Dr P and Alison to provide a place that you feel seen, heard and cared for!
Contact us
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