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Meet Trailblazer Dr. Shannon Evans

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Shannon Evans.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Dr. Evans. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My inspiration to become a physician began after my own journey with illness for a year during my adolescence. I was unable to attend school and was bedridden. I went to several clinics and physicians and had several tests performed before learning that I had a terminal diagnosis, and nothing could be done. For the first time in my life, I accepted God into my life. I asked Him to either heal me or take me. God healed me. God also blessed me with my purpose here on earth; becoming a physician.

The year of my illness, I experienced several physicians that were lacking in their bedside manner. When some of the physicians could not figure out why I was so ill, they attributed my symptoms and illness to psychological issues, which added to the difficulty, frustration, and challenges of being ill. During this year, I realized how important it is for a physician to listen, be humble, compassionate, and open-minded. This experience instilled a passion in me to become a physician who would be caring, open-minded, and sincerely listen to patients.

After completing medical school and then residency, I worked as a family medicine physician in rural Wyoming. Since my teenage years, I had always had issues with what I thought were seasonal allergies, acid reflux, and chronic fatigue. In 2014, my symptoms worsened. I was feeling more fatigued, having more allergy symptoms and acid reflux. I was taking the conventional medicine approach and was on three medications with no relief.

One of my friends recommended functional medicine. At first, I was skeptical, but did some research and decided to go for a consult. After obtaining a detailed medical history and labs, the functional medicine specialist was able to explain why I was having these symptoms and what steps were needed to address them. The explanation of the lab results and my symptoms were based on human pathophysiology. The specialist was able to explain what was occurring at both an organ and cellular level.

I was impressed and amazed. This explanation was based on science and was information I learned in undergraduate and medical school. After making dietary changes, working on gut, immune and adrenal health, I was feeling much better. I went off all medications. My fatigue significantly decreased. I no longer had acid reflux or symptoms of environmental allergies.

After my personal success with functional medicine, I was a true believer in functional medicine and started adding functional medicine into my approach with patients! In September 2015, I began formal training to become certified in functional medicine. My first course with The Institute of Functional Medicine was a life changer. Everyone — including facility, educators, and attendees — were so excited and eager to learn or share their knowledge on addressing the root cause of a person’s disease or symptoms to work towards optimal health for patients.

I knew immediately that this paralleled well with my goals and beliefs as a physician. I understood that this was a path to a therapeutic relationship with my patients, without more regulations and restrictions from health insurance companies and the government. Utilizing functional medicine principles, I knew I could better serve my patients by partnering, empowering and educating them to obtain optimal health.

Since opening New Beginnings Functional Medicine Clinic in August 2018 and focusing on a functional medicine approach, I am able to spend an adequate amount of time with patients to learn their whole story and every aspect of their health journey in order to assist in their journey to new beginnings to better health.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
My journey to becoming a functional medicine physician is like most journeys—it was filled with hills, mountains, valleys, deserts, twists and turns. Looking back, every obstacle or struggle has taught me a valuable lesson and given me wisdom to be a better human & physician. I am grateful that God has always been there through the tough and happy times in my journey. During my high school years and college years, there were people that doubted my ability to become a physician. Some people believed I did not have a chance since I was a female. While other people felt I had no chance because I came from an immediate family that did not have parents with bachelor’s degrees and there were no doctors in my family. God’s will and my passion to help and care for others by becoming a physician, were my driving forces.

Some of my most challenging and rewarding parts of my journey:

– Acceptance into medical school and drinking from the fire-hose of knowledge for four years was exciting and stressful. I was blessed to always have the support of my family, friends and classmates.

– After medical school was three years of family medicine residency, which was also a challenge due to the long hours and minimal time for self-care.

– When finding functional medicine, I worked as a primary care physician in the clinic, ER and urgent care. Working full time, working on healing myself and learning functional medicine was also a challenge at times.

– Then starting a functional medicine clinic has been a challenging adventure. Having only been an employee and having minimal knowledge about business has been a great experience and steep learning curve.

My advice to other women is: You are not alone and you are not meant to figure this world out alone! Don’t be afraid to ask for help and lean on others. We all need help and guidance. What you will learn with your struggles may be able to help others, so they can succeed and not be on their journey alone.

We’d love to hear more about New Beginnings Functional Medicine Clinic.
I am a Functional Medicine Physician at New Beginnings Functional Medicine Clinic, who specializes in discovering the root cause of an individual’s illness or symptoms. My passion is partnering with patients who have not been able to get any answers from any other providers about their symptoms or disease and learn about every aspect of their lives (mind, body, spirit, genetics, environment). After learning about every aspect of a patient’s health journey, this helps me to discover when & why their body stopped healing itself. With this knowledge and a physical exam, the patient and I can then discuss what lab work would be most helpful and a plan for the patient to reach their health goals and achieve optimal health. I also love to work with patients that are healthy and want to stay healthy and active for their entire lives.

I am so grateful that I get to do what I love by partner with patients to achieve their optimal health goals, so they can be active, healthy & happy in this world.

What sets me apart from other functional medicine providers is my strong knowledge base in conventional medicine along with functional medicine. It is important to have a good foundational knowledge base in conventional medicine in order to help patients when also looking at their health in a functional medicine approach. I also attended medical school at an Osteopathic Medical school, where we are taught that the body works as a whole and if the body is working properly—it heals itself. As an osteopathic physician, I was taught osteopathic manipulation (like chiropractic adjustments although osteopaths are taught that any part of the body can be manipulated to help improve function of the body). I am board certified in family medicine with the American Board of Family Medicine and functional medicine with the Institute of Functional Medicine.

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Image Credit:
Cathy Hediger Photography, Patrick Collins

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