Meet Natalie Kunsman, MD | Integrated Health Advisor & Functional Physician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Natalie Kunsman, MD and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Natalie, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I started out in private practice immediately after residency in my home town in Pennsylvania. I had a brick and mortar newly built office, then expanded to a three satellite practice with multiple physicians.
I also had a boutique extension of the practice in aesthetic medicine that did lasers, peels, dermabrasion, skin, vein and facial care.
Over time I folded the practices into the health system that I trained in residency (Reading Hospital, now Tower Health). I work in that system as a site lead and practitioner for 20 years.
I came to Colorado Springs as an employed physician in a large health system. I watched the system breakdowns, corporate decisions, and insurances driving “healthcare” that did not always move a patient’s healthcare ahead.
I have a very specific niche and advanced training and fellowships in functional/holistic/integrative care, and it was time to solely focus on this individualized approach to patients’ care while using the telemedicine virtual platform to deliver more care to more people.
What should our readers know about your business?
I recently joined the trend of virtual physicians who provide unique and individualized approaches to care. Functional medicine goes at a root cause approach to figure out WHY someone may have the complicated symptoms or conditions that they have. The idea is to get the body to heal itself with adding the proper components or eliminating those problems contributing to the dysfunction. It is very academic and innovative when needed, but yet grounded in some ancient principles of good nutrition, lifestyle management, social purpose, and integrating the organs, chemistry, and energy systems of the body to behave in a harmonious fashion.
Surely my MD factors in to the diagnosis and treatments when needed and blends the disciplines of other practitioners that patients are working with.
In 2022, I was voted “Top Doc” in Functional Medicine, and surely happy about that. There are many functional providers, but not as many functional physicians.
I have found challenges entering the virtual world from the marketing end and letting patients know that I am in the universe!! Technology has become easier to navigate for virtual visits. Not only am I transitioning into the virtual office space, but so are patients. They love it. It is convenient. It addresses THEIR unique health concerns, and it does not force any paradigm or protocol.
I am still learning how to be efficient and enjoy social media to get my messages across and allow patients to get to know me.
My style of medicine is in line with what patients are asking for, but I also walk with the patient at every step of the journey. I have had my own healing journey, as most of us functional physicians have had.
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I have done just this more than once! Locally, my friends enjoy Garden of the Gods, the various activities in Manitou Springs, and Old Colorado Springs. I prefer local haunts to eat rather than chain restaurants, and some of the food trucks that come to town are primo! I like Old Colorado City (shout out to Mother Muffs!). We’ve taken people to Glen Eyrie Castle for my history buff friends, and like when the rams are playing on the property. For those same history buffs, we have gone to downtown Colorado Springs to the museum and Olympic museum. When possible we will stop at Jack Quinn’s Irish Pub
We’ve established neighborhood friends in our Banning-Lewis Retreat, and like to frequent JAK’s Taproom, Back East Bar and Grill, and Abby’s Irish Pub. The people who own these establishments are what make it enjoyable for my husband and I, since we are not native to the area, and knew no one before moving here.
We surely jaunt to the cities outside of here when we have friends who have never been to Colorado, such as Boulder, Fort Collins, Salida.
We had one fantastic road trip with friends that started in the Springs and ultimately wound us up through mountain towns with the grand finale ending in Mesa Verde.
We are not finished exploring…..
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My fellowship training institution, the “American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine” has kept me ahead of the curve with advances in medicine and provided one of the strongest networks of like-minded providers I have been associated with.
Since coming to the Springs nearly 5 years ago, I have been associated with Verena Vomastic, PhD (at Mountain Light Healing), who is local and provides all kinds of levels of energy evaluations and therapies. She has been instrumental in being my “professional matchmaker” to personally meet and collaborate with the many functional and complementary professionals in Colorado Springs and the surrounding areas. It may take a village to help a patient, and we have that here in Colorado Springs.
Website: NatalieKunsmanMD.com
Instagram: @NATALIEKUNSMANMD
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/natalie-kunsman-md-ms-faarm-abaarm-78b59111
Twitter: @KunsmanMd
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/natalie.kunsmanokeefe; https://www.facebook.com/groups/663115824204880/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCupqeu7KYBpMrCzmrwiFaoQ
Other: Tiktok @doctornatalie
Image Credits
I think all of those images are my very own. No credits needed