Dr Loy Anderson, M.D. has been practicing medicine for nearly 25 years. She is board certified in Family Medicine and Functional Medicine. She completed undergraduate training with a BS in Biology at Walla Walla University, followed by her MD at Loma Linda University.

After a 3-year residency in Family Medicine, she was honored to serve in the US Air Force for 4 years, stationed at Malmstrom AFB. She then joined the Great Falls Clinic, where she thoroughly enjoyed her colleagues and caring for families and patients of all ages until 2017. She is passionate about educating and has lectured on women’s health, stress management, hormones, inflammation, autoimmune disease, obesity and weight loss, thyroid, and brain health.

While traditional medical care is excellent at dealing with acute care and health emergencies, Dr Loy realized something was missing. After helping her patients manage their chronic disease for decades, she observed they never really got well, and felt there had to be a better way. Here is her story in her own words:

“Like many, I entered medicine with innocent idealism and a simple but burning desire to help people. Armed with knowledge, training, and experience I believed it would be relatively simple to alleviate suffering and improve the health of my patients. After nearly 25 years in both military and civilian medicine, I have discovered it’s not. Sure, with enough medication and nagging, we can keep various maladies “managed”. But I became dissatisfied with overall outcomes. It was demoralizing to be stuck in a broken system, and heartbreaking to see my patients not ever really getting well. Not to mention the hardships of being unable to afford expensive medications, copays and deductibles (the lucky ones with insurance), and suffering myriad unpleasant, dangerous and sometimes irreversible side effects from their treatments. I was unable to provide the care I wanted to for my patients or myself.

In 2010, both my professional and personal life were crumbling. I realized I was totally burned out. Current estimates are up to 50% of primary care providers suffer from burn out. Even more are dissatisfied and consider quitting medicine. Most alarming, physician suicide rates are rising. Thankfully, my journey of recovery began before I reached that point. Gradually, I learned that to care for others, I had to love and care for myself-my whole self; physical, spiritual, emotional and mental. That included simple yet profound practices such as good nutrition, adequate rest, meaningful connection, movement, and living on purpose. I didn’t know it then, but that is the essence of functional medicine. It also started my dream of helping other professionals who are suffering from burnout.

“To heal the world, we must first heal ourselves.” Seane Corn

While attending a dermatology conference in 2013, I first heard of Functional Medicine at another conference going on at the same hotel. I glanced at the agenda and my curiosity was piqued. In 2015 I attended a conference called “Heal Thy Practice” in my search for answers to burnout. Again, I was led to functional medicine, and I finally knew this was the path I was meant to be on. The seeds were planted for Thriven Functional Medicine. In spite of uncertainty and fear, I took the plunge and began my training in 2016. I will never forget the first day at that training-I felt like a parched traveler who had stumbled on an oasis and could drink my fill!

It took about a year and a half, and with the support of some amazing people the dream of providing comprehensive wellness programs based on the principles of functional medicine was realized. The doors of Thriven Functional Medicine opened in May of 2017 – finally I had the tools to help people achieve optimal, vibrant health so they could fully live their life’s purpose. I am so grateful my own path towards recovery and abundant health began in 2010 and continues. I now know it is an ongoing journey, not a destination – not an easy admission for someone with my personality! Today I love what I do and am supported by the most amazing team. The very best part of all is seeing people reclaim themselves and achieve optimal health. I cherish my health and my family, and whether you are a suffering patient or a burned out provider I hope to inspire you to do the same.”

Dr Anderson combines her extensive experience and skills in traditional western medicine with the innovative and intuitive power of functional medicine to offer you the best of both. She is sustained daily by her unshakeable faith, has a beautiful daughter Alex, and a chocolate lab named Maya. When not serving her practice members or leading her team, she loves to hike, drive fast cars, fly planes, snowshoe, garden, travel, read, and play the flute or piano.

Website: https://thrivenfunctionalmedicine.com/