About Melissa iThrive's Provider

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 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. 

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

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

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 2024, in progress

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