Exploring Life & Business with Polly Watson of Hormone Wellness

Today we’d like to introduce you to Polly Watson. 

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My path in practicing medicine has led me to a place I didn’t know existed when I started this journey over 20 years ago. A career in women’s medicine seemed inevitable early on. At Paideia school in Atlanta, I was already interested in women’s issues and women’s health and loved biology. In college, I majored in molecular biology and biochemistry but also took many women’s studies classes. OBGYN was my favorite rotation in medical school. After OBGYN residency and three short years in practice, I was fortunate to become a parent. I began to seek new directions in medicine. 

When my son was one, I decided to focus on office gynecology and menopausal medicine. OBGYN is so focused on birth and surgery that I really felt menopausal patients weren’t getting the time and attention they deserved. I started studying menopausal medicine through the North American Menopause Society and sexual medicine through the International Society for the Study of Women’s sexual health. 

Despite all of this additional education, my patients were still coming into the office with questions I couldn’t answer. They were trying supplements that I wasn’t taught about in medical school. They had questions about adrenal health and toxins that simply were not addressed by my training. My patients had really good questions. I wanted to know the answers too. 

I started by learning about supplements and attended my first integrative medicine conference. I was blown away. Here is a community, there was a robust conversation about chronic health issues that Western medicine wasn’t healing. We tried some nutrition changes at home and my son started performing 2 grades ahead of grade level after 2 months of the new diet. The teacher was astonished, and I had a powerful lesson that FOOD IS MEDICINE. 

Insurance-driven medicine made me feel like I was clicking boxes for bean counters. I no longer felt like a healer. When I discovered functional medicine, my desire for learning was rekindled. This group of doctors weren’t grouchy and burnt out. They were hopeful and they were transforming the lives of their patients. Their energy was infectious. After a few years of trying different integrated and holistic medical organizations, I found the Institute for Functional Medicine. For two years I studied with IFM and became Certified in 2019. I am one of about 1000 providers in the US who has obtained this certification. 

In 2019 I left my job as an employed physician with a large organization and started Hormone Wellness MD. I started with no staff working out of a single room. Now we own our space and look forward to hosting group events after the pandemic has resolved. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I feel very privileged to have a supportive husband and family that has picked up the slack and allowed me the time to spend hundreds of hours studying and learning functional medicine. 

Embracing functional medicine has taught me so much that has expanded my medical education. I really enjoy collaborating with others and sharing information. It’s wonderful when I meet other healthcare professionals who are open-minded and willing to take the time to learn about a different approach. 

Our standard American diet and lifestyle is creating and promoting chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cancer. We are surrounded by messaging to consume foods that lack nutrition and promote inflammation. Forging a healthy lifestyle when the “normal” environment is so unhealthy can feel like constantly paddling upstream for my patients trying to make healthy changes. My goal is to create a community that encourages and supports healthier living. 

We’ve been impressed with Hormone Wellness MD, 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?
Hormone Wellness MD was founded to empower women to reimagine their own health. Using cutting-edge functional medicine testing, we can discover the source of imbalance and help restore vitality. We focus on whole-person health. Balancing hormones isn’t just about giving hormones. We address blood sugar imbalances, the gut microbiome, thyroid health, adrenal health, and detoxification through an active partnership with patients. 

My focus is menopausal health and other common hormone imbalances like PCOS. I’m one of the few functionally trained doctors who is also a gynecologist. 

Our practice is unique among functional medicine practices in that we offer a weekly group visit. We know that people make healthier choices when they are surrounded by others also practicing a healthy lifestyle. Our group visits serve to provide an oasis of community to support healthy behavior change. The group visit has two parts: a 30-minute webinar to provide information about common tests or conditions and a 30-minute Q and A. The information part of the visit is recorded and archived so members can refer back to it as needed. The archive has proved to be invaluable to our community. When a member gets her results back, she will get a video lab review that will reference which videos will be helpful for her to review. When she meets with me for a follow-up, she has already seen her results and started her education on her condition. We can then use our time together to answer specific questions and dive into the treatment plan. 

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I moved to Raleigh in 2005 and I love it. I love that the people are friendly. Having several universities nearby brings vitality and brainpower to our city. I wish Raleigh would get light rail to be better stewards of the earth and reduce traffic congestion. 

Pricing:

• We invite all new patients into our monthly membership program that includes monthly office visits and weekly group visits.
• Initial in-person 90-minute Consult $450
• 60 Minute Monthly Membership $299/Month
• 30 Minute Monthly Membership $199/Month

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://hormonewellnessmd.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hormonewellnessmd/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hormonewellnessmd
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/ZQmxVqZwLwg
• Other: https://hormonewellnessmdacademy.teachable.com/