Community Highlights: Meet Fatima Iqbal of Crabtree Health

Today we’d like to introduce you to Fatima Iqbal

Hi Fatima, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started my medical journey from Indianapolis, Indiana as a Cytotechnologist, looking at pap smears and slides through a microscope, to detect abnormal pre-cancerous cells. Originally, I had plans to be a physician, but was looking at other options and cytotechnology seemed exciting and innovative. I worked for two years in this position, eventually expanding my knowledge into the hospital setting where I was recruited to do early and immediate assessment for fine needle aspirations for the local gastroenterologist in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This allowed me to get more exposure to the medical field and re-ignited the passion to advance further.
I like to take some bold chances sometimes, and decided to obtain a medical degree. My desire to expand was present but, I was not willing to put loans on for graduate education. I decided going an untraditional route and ended up in the Caribbean island of Nevis. The two years of education on the island may be thought of as a vacation by many, but for me this was a serious journey to advance and improve myself so one day, I can help the people I would only see through the microscope. My knowledge of pathology from my prior work proved to be useful. I was offered interviews in many academic centers of good standing for a pathology residency. But I wanted to work with people. I wanted to work in hospitals and be on the front line.
Becoming a physician in Internal Medicine, and remaining a cytotechnologist with experience helps me understand disease both at a clinical and cellular level. I find that my unique background of adapting to advancement has helped me with better skills. I started my career post residency working with Duke Primary Care and later transitioned to Duke Raleigh Hospital as a hospitalist. I am one of the few hospitalist who can manage both outpatient and inpatient care. No need for wait to give diabetic education to the patient and teach them how to inject insulin. I save time for the hospital to discharge patients home by doin these clinical tasks myself.
While working as a hospitalist, I started working on certifying myself for the American Board of Obesity Medicine. I worked and studied, at the same time started reading books on business. I have higher aspirations and goals to open my own practice that allows me to provide weight management and primary care services to my patients. My experience in primary care and hospital medicine has shown me that once the problem of obesity is improved, patients have fewer hospital visits, fewer health problems and better lives. I can’t wait to make that a reality for my future patients and community.
Today I am opening my own primary care and weight management practice called Crabtree Health located in Morrisville, NC. I save all my earnings to make this a reality for my community. From integrative weight management approaches to full primary care services, I want to tackle obesity with multiple angles. I will keep my payment model simple, away from insurance reimbursement hassles so I can give the people in my community the time and patience that is needed with longer appointments and frequent follow ups at low cost and better health.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
A road to become a physician is never easy. Especially when you are a parent and a woman. I had three children in every phase of my medical career. First my son was born during medical school, which took me back a few months as I struggled as a new parent. Then my daughter was born during residency and since I had not started residency, I was unable to get a proper maternity leave. I was working in residency started nights in ICU, two weeks after her birth. Finally, my third child was born when I started working as a physician in primary care at Duke. All these circumstances were unique challenges but I feel blessed to have my children. From the struggles of childcare to finding time to study with the family. I have found myself having immense respect for all mothers, parents and working moms. I took this compassion to advance my knowledge further and studying more in depth on women’s hormonal health to help combat health issues exclusive to women.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Crabtree health is a weight management and primary care clinic starting in spring of 2025. After becoming an expert in obesity medicine and internal medicine, I want to expand my help to my community. The number one problem that stems all other health problems that I see is due to poor weight management and hormonal issues. I see many women suffer from infertility, PCOS, PMS, chronic stress, mood imbalances. I want my knowledge and experience to be of benefit to my community. As a board certified internist already well versed in traditional medicine, I have learned to use functional medicine and natural hormonal balances as a strategy to help my patients balance themselves, improve their mood, change their lifestyle and lose weight. From hormonal testing, bioimpedance analysis for accurate fat measurement, monthly follow ups, nutritional planning and exercise recommendations to full primary care services, their is a lot to offer, all for low cost and better health and future for our community.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
I have been living in Raleigh for almost 5 years and have watched it grow. Starting from my brother, who is an endodontist in this city for a long time and visiting him from Ohio. My visits here 10 years ago, barely had any lights or cars down the road from where my brother lived to now multiple medical centers, golf facility, townhomes and continuous construction shows signs of a growing city. I have seen the hospital get overflown with patients, primary care with long waits. Our city is growing everyday and I love every moment of growth. As I do my part in the health of my city, I also want the government to invest in its infrastructure and roads, so we can have people moving and getting to places with ease.

Pricing:

• Weight Management & Primary Care starting at $79/month
• Medicare Wellness Packages starting at $89/month
• Women’s health starting at $79/month

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.crabtreehealth.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fatimaiqbalmd/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091989337121
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Crabtreehealth