Functional Medicine Specialty Clinic Serving Georgia & Florida | Telemed Available!
About Melissa iThrive's Provider
Melissa's History
Melissa graduated in 2011 from Georgia Southwestern State University with her BSN. She then went on to work for the Phoebe Health System in Albany, GA. She worked as an RN in many of their hospital departments ranging from Cardiac Step-down, ER, General Surgery & Urology, Medical & Surgical, Orthopedic & Neurology, Pre-op, Pediatrics, and Outpatient Rehab.
She returned to school, graduating in 2016 from Walden University with her MSN and shortly after became board certified as an Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner through the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. She returned to work as an NP in Phoebe's ER, before leaving to work in an internal medicine practice for 2 years.
In 2019 Melissa opened iThrive Health & Wellness with a vision to help others live long and healthy lives with a focus on prevention.
Since that time, she has completed a significant amount of advanced training and functional medicine education from many organizations in various areas of medicine.
Melissa's Motivation For Going Into Functional Medicine
Melissa's mother became sick with many unexplainable symptoms and was ultimately diagnosed with fibromyalgia. This diagnosis did not explain the unexplained symptoms and did not satisfy her mother, as she was very concerned that it may be connected with a tick bite from many years prior, however none of her providers agreed to test her for Lyme. Her mother was able to find a self-ordering site for a Lyme test, which Melissa drew for her, and the results returned CDC positive for Lyme. Because of conventional medicine's limited knowledge of the nuances in treating Lyme patients, Melissa began her journey in trying to help her mother become healthy again.
Years later at the age of 33, Melissa sustained a mild traumatic brain injury from a motor vehicle accident which negatively impacted her hormones several months later. No one educated her on the chronic changes that could happen or what to look for after a head injury. She became interested in learning all about bio-identical hormone replacement in effort to regain her own health and later became certified in hormone replacement as well as traumatic brain injury (TBI) recovery.
This created a passion in her to take her newly found knowledge and use it to help others. And the rest is history!
In 2020 Melissa became a member of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) and treated many patients successfully during the pandemic.
Melissa's Post Graduate Education
Functional Medicine University
Certified Function Medicine Practitioner 2019
Cancer Survivorship Part I & II 2019
Migraines: Heart of the Matter 2019
SIBO Part I & II 2019
Creating Health: Most Effective Treatment
for Chronic Disease 2019
Breast Cancer Management Strategies 2019
Becoming Immune to Cancer 2019
Female Focus: Supporting Healthy Ovulation 2019
Gluten Certification 2019
Provider Listing
Institute for Functional Medicine
Applying Functional Medicine in Clinical Practice 2019
Introduction to Functional Nutrition 2019
Immune Advanced Practice Module 2021
Hormone Advanced Practice Module 2021
CardioMetabolic Advanced Practice Module 2021
Bioenergetics Advanced Practice Module 2021
Environment Advanced Practice Module 2023
GI Advanced Practice Module, Pending Oct 2024
Provider Listing
American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine
Endocrinology Symposium 2018
Advanced Hormone Dosing Protocols 2018
Chronic Infections (CIRS & Lyme) I 2018
Chronic Infections (CIRS & Lyme) II 2018
IV / Chelation Therapy 2020
Lab Fundamentals 2021
Peptides Module I 2023
Peptides Module II 2023
Integrative Oncology 2025
Provider Listing
Millenium Health
Dr. Mark Gordon's Millenium TBI Certification 2024
Elite NP
Stem Cell and Regenerative Injections 2020
Advanced Medical Practice Marketing 2020
Advanced Clinical Peptide Treatment 2020
IV Infusions and Injectables 2020
Bio-identical Hormone Pellet Course 2020
Kalish Institute for Functional Medicine
Masterclass: Gastrointestinal Treatments, GI Essentials 2019
School of Applied Functional Medicine
Anxiety, Depression, and Mood Imbalances
Kane Thermal Imaging
Clinical Thermographic Technician, Pending
American Association of Aesthetic Medicine and Surgery
Certified Master of Facial Aesthetics 2017
American Society of Addiction Medicine
Buprenorphine Waiver 2018
Menopause Association / Redefining Menopause
Provider Listing
Independent Medical Alliance (Formerly FLCCC)
Provider Listing
Physicians for Informed Consent
Coalition Member
Surviving Mold
Proficiency Partner Diplomate Listing
