Our host, Alisa McCabe interviews Dr. Kimberlee Park, a board certified family medicine physician who has practiced medicine in the Philadelphia region since 1996, including 17 years at Crozer Keystone Health System in the Family Medicine department. Dr. Park graduated from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine where she received her D.O. degree and now practices with a foundational belief in the Osteopathic Medicine tradition of “hands-on” diagnostic and therapeutic science.

In 2019, Dr. Park founded Medicalm-PA, a medical practice dedicated to helping patients benefit from the new and evolving treatments now available with Pennsylvania’s compassionate medical marijuana legislation.

Visit her website at http://www.medicalmpa.com!

[00:00 – 11:00] Overcoming the Stigma of Medical Marijuana

• Alisa introduces Dr. Kimberlee Park
• Dr. Park discusses her background in family medicine and the events that led her to pursue a career in medical marijuana and became a certifying practice
• Dr. Park talks about the process for her patients – from meeting with their primary care doctor through certification as a medical marijuana patient.
• Education of patients is an important component of her work.
• Qualifying conditions that can be treated with medical marijuana in the State of Pennsylvania.

[11:00 – 15:15] A Brave and Risk-Taking Approach to Medicine

• Dr. Park discusses the stigma and intimidation that some folks may feel and how that affects their willingness to seek out treatment.
• She talks about the populations who are open to treatment and seek out more information.
• Dr. Park discusses the success of her business.

[15:15 – 22:45] The Influences in Dr. Park’s Life

• As a child she was involved in a traumatic event. As a result of car crash her grandparents were killed and she was unable to walk for six months.
• Her mother, tutor, and teachers (many of whom were nuns) helped her during her recovery.

• Dr. Park attributes her interest in medicine to the healthcare workers who put her back together after the accident.
• She talks about negative interactions with some male physicians during her training and being regularly mistaken for a nurse because she is a woman.
• The war in Ukraine has had a specific emotional impact on mothers, many of whom can imagine what it’s like to have children fighting in a war.

[22:45 – End]

• Dr. Park shares why she knows that this has been the right path for her.

Key Quote: