By Annette Pinder
Dr. Alisha Lall grew up in Orchard Park, Buffalo, graduated from Nichols School, and attended Tulane University in New Orleans for Business Management and Psychology. She returned to Buffalo to attend Canisius College for a semester during Hurricane Katrina, but returned to Tulane to complete her degree.
Dr. Lall had an interest in helping others for as long as she can remember. “When I was 14, I worked at Cradle Beach Camp helping individuals with disabilities. “I learned that the joy is evident in someone’s eyes when they can’t speak to you.” My parents were both physicians who owned their own practices. My mom practiced adult primary care, and my dad was a neurologist. Seeing how much of their lives they sacrificed, I wasn’t initially interested in becoming a doctor. But after working 80 hours a week as a human resources executive team leader at Target, I decided to pursue medicine.”
“I worked as a nanny and as a researcher at Hahnemann Hospital during the day while completing my required premed classes at Drexel University’s evening program in Philadelphia. I then attended St. George’s University School of Medicine in the Caribbean. It was best two years of my life. I didn’t even have access to a smart phone. We were a family of friends who took care of each other.” Thereafter, she completed her clinicals at Brooklyn Hospital Center, and spent some time traveling before completing her residency at University of Connecticut School of Medicine.
Dr. Lall joined her mom’s medical practice after completing residency training in comprehensive family medicine, including pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, outpatient dermatological procedures, and joint injections. After taking over the practice, she became certified to teach yoga, board-certified in lifestyle medicine, and is pursuing her interest in regenerative medicine. “But with a caseload of 1500 patients, it was difficult to practice authentically. Rather than a quick fix and writing a prescription to manage their disease and symptoms, I wanted to spend more time with patients understanding the underlying causes of their chronic issues, such as lack of sleep, grief due to loss, or lifestyle choices. I knew helping them to modify their behavior could be more effective than medication.”
With this in mind, Dr. Lall transitioned to a membership-based lifestyle medicine focused primary care practice. Patients at Fare Well Medical Practice (Fare Well) pay $125 monthly for non-covered health and wellness services, while medical visits and tests are covered by traditional insurance. With 80% of all primary care patient issues rooted in mental health, Fare Well patients can participate in 4 in-person or online weekly yoga classes. Dr. Lall teaches two culinary medicine classes monthly on Thursday afternoons or Monday evenings during which participants learn food preparation skills, watch videos, and enjoy a meal together. Patients love her .9 mile “Walk with the Doc” program on the last Saturday of each month and monthly socials. She is also hoping to start a writing group to combat loneliness.
Dr. Lall’s ability to speak Hindi will be helpful to the women taking her prenatal yoga class at Jericho Road Community Health Center. As a volunteer preceptor at the UB Jacobs School of Medicine, she also works with first- and third-year medical students completing their clinical rotations. She says, “I look forward to a time when doctors better understand chronic diseases, rather merely treating their side effects with prescription medications. I am also happy that the medical school will soon be incorporating lifestyle medicine into their curriculum.”
Regarding her decisions, Dr. Lall says, “I knew that if I didn’t change the way I treated patients, I wouldn’t be adhering to my values. Doing it differently affords me the opportunity to spend as much time as necessary with patients to better understand their unique situations and needs. I can meet them where they are. I am breaking the mold, but I know it will be beautiful. It already feels beautiful.”
Dr. Lall has also experienced her own medical challenges. Recalling a time when she fluctuated with her own weight and finding a healthy balance, and struggling with exhaustion and burnout which affected her mental health, she says, “I feel more aligned now. I’m practicing in a way that feels right to me, which allows me to care for myself while caring for others. I believe that this is important for all health practitioners. I am also working on ways to enable inclusivity for patients who cannot afford the membership, but are interested in the lifestyle medicine approach to primary care. Learn more at farewellhealth.com, or call 716-675-1001.
