Inspiring Conversations with Alison Percowycz of Wild Rice Wellness

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alison Percowycz, MSN, FNP-C.

Hi Alison, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
I got into medicine after hearing both of my grandmother’s stories about nursing. They both worked at the same local hospital and I was intrigued by their stories and the way they touched people’s lives so I decided to go to school for Nursing. I got my Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from a small Nursing school in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Bellin College of Nursing.

After that, I moved to Washington, DC, and took a job in the ICU at Georgetown University Hospital. I quickly realized that aside from trauma, what landed folks in the intensive care unit was often preventable, and much of it was driven by lifestyle – nutrition, sleep, smoking, and stress. So I decided to go back to school to get my Master’s Degree and become a Family Nurse Practitioner. My goal was to work in primary care so that I could be on the preventive side of healthcare. Unfortunately and fortunately, the job market in Denver was pretty bleak when I graduated so I started looking at jobs in another specialty that I loved, which was Neurology. I ended up taking a position at the University of Colorado, where I have been on faculty and in clinical practice for the past seven years.

During this time, I have always been passionate about lifestyle, and medicine, and leveraging these aspects with my patients to help with their chronic pain and neurologic disease. It wasn’t until my first pregnancy when I experienced some of my first-ever health issues that I wanted to learn and understand things, even deeper.

Fast forward to 2020 when the world was upside down, I started to take courses through the Institute for Functional Medicine to learn more about the root causes of disease and how to implement lifestyle changes to reverse chronic disease and optimize health. After making many changes in my own life and health course, I knew I had to share this way of practice with others. This past year I opened Wild Rice Wellness, which is a virtual, functional, and integrative medicine practice, serving patients all over Colorado.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have been challenges along the way but I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason and sometimes even our challenges become pivotal turning points in our lives. For example, with my first pregnancy, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and gestational diabetes, and had I not had these health challenges that I was determined to get to the root cause of, I may not have ended up diving into Functional Medicine and opening my practice to serve others.

There is a saying in the Functional Medicine community that those that get into this field are either “sick or smart” and that often one’s health challenges lead them to find this way of practicing. Thankfully, I was never super sick but it got me asking “why” about my health and finding a better and more fulfilling way to practice.

We’ve been impressed with Wild Rice Wellness, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Wild rice wellness is a Functional and Integrative Medicine practice serving patients virtually throughout the state of Colorado. A couple of areas that I specialize in are women’s health and athletic performance. In terms of women’s health, I am passionate about postpartum wellness.

In conventional medicine, the six-week postpartum check-up is simply not enough and I believe women need more support from the medical community throughout this huge transition. I also see a decent amount of endurance athletes, who are looking to optimize their health and performance. Having a background in Mountain ultrarunning and having run division I cross country in college and pairing that with my functional medicine knowledge, I find that athletes are often under fueling and that their nutrient status is not optimal for their endurance pursuits.

What sets me apart from other providers is my experience going through many similar challenges that they may be experiencing. Whether that is the crippling fatigue and not feeling like yourself during the postpartum period or hitting a training plateau, despite doing “all the right things.” I think what also sets me apart is my ability to sit back, take the time and listen to the patient’s story. Oftentimes, providers are so eager to solve their patients’ problems that they are too busy formulating plans in their heads while their patients are talking. Being able to truly listen and allow the patient time and space to tell their story is a critical piece in finding out what the underlying problem may be. Patients want to feel heard and allowing them to tell their story fully in a practice is the key to a successful patient-provider relationship and a successful practice.

I am currently accepting new patients who are located in Colorado so anyone who has been dealing with unresolved health issues or symptoms or those who simply way to optimize their health, I am here for you! I offer a free 15-minute introductory call to chat about your health concerns and make sure we are a good fit to work together. If so, we will schedule an Initial consultation where we will dive deep into your health concerns, symptoms, and history and formulate a plan to get you on the path to wellness. After this, I offer a monthly membership that is flexible where we will meet monthly to check in on progress and change course if needed so you can reach your health goals faster.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I think we will see changes in the medical field in the next decade. There is a shift happening right now, where patients are wanting more in terms of expanding their knowledge and the care that they seek.

Medicine 2.0, which is where we are right now in the conventional healthcare model, has done a great job at eradicating many deadly diseases and expanding lifespan, but we have a long way to go in the conventional model in truly focusing on wellness and helping people not only live longer but also live better, even in the later years of life.

We are seeing momentum and I believe that consumers and patients are going to want better from the system so I hope we will see changes across the healthcare system but it will take time.

Pricing:

• Free – 15-minute introductory call
• $375 – Initial New Patient Consultation
• $250 – Monthly Membership

Contact Info:

• Website: https://wildricewellness.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildricewellness
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alison-percowycz-758752b5/ 

Image Credits
Joanne Furton