Get to Know Dr. Emily Parke

Upon graduating from medical school, Dr. Emily completed her anesthesiology residency at the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic (consistently ranked one of the top 3 hospitals in the world), where she served as Chief Resident from 2006-2008. Seeking to further her training, Dr. Emily then pursued a fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (consistently ranked one of the top 3 children’s hospitals in the US), where she was named Chief Fellow. At the conclusion of her training, she moved to Arizona, where she practiced as a pediatric and pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist undertaking complex and high risk cases. In addition to this work, she served as the Vice Chair of the Pediatric Pain Medicine Department at Phoenix Children’s Hospital from 2010-2012. 

A born achiever who dedicates 100% to the task at hand, Dr. Emily was fully committed to her role as an anesthesiologist. However, as the demands of her position took a toll on her own wellbeing, she became unsatisfied with what she perceived to be an overreliance by the medical community on “band aid solutions” like pills and procedures, rather than seeking to treat the underlying causes of a patient’s health concerns. On the recommendation of a friend, she first turned to acupuncture for her own care and was impressed with the benefits she experienced.

Upon discovering the curative possibilities of acupuncture, Dr. Emily was convinced she could use it to help her patients and completed her training in medical acupuncture via the Helm’s Institute, the premier physician acupuncture training program in the US. During her training, she met physicians practicing Integrative and Functional Medicine alongside acupuncture, which then sparked her own pursuit to learn more about Functional Medicine. This led to her training with the Institute for Functional Medicine (associated with The Cleveland Clinic) and becoming a Certified Practitioner. She has also completed the Kresser Institute for Functional and Evolutionary Medicine ADAPT clinician training program and is currently only 1 of 2 physicians in the state of Arizona with both of these certifications.