Meet Sydne Ford, MD | Family and Integrative Medicine Physician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sydne Ford, MD and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sydne, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
When I was younger, I never dreamed of having a business. I just knew that I wanted to help people and my way of helping was to become a physician. I am in the business of healing and I later realized that if I continued to work for large health institutions, I would never truly be in control of the type of care I wanted to give. Having my own practice allows me to spend as much time as I want with a patient, prescribe (or not prescribe) and recommend what I feel is best for the patient, and ultimately practice on my own terms. I can work as much or as little as I want and I am not limited to the pressure of an organization whose bottom line is the dollar.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
What sets my business apart from most physician practices is that I take care of the whole person. I see myself as more of a conduit in someone’s healing journey and take a holistic approach. Drawing from my own personal experience as a patient, I do my best to work with each patient and meet them where they are, while also motivating and inspiring them. I work to get to the root cause of their condition/concerns, rather than just prescribing another pill to mask their symptoms. I focus on laying a good foundation, using nutrition, movement, and mind-body medicine. Because I am on the journey with my patient, I truly get excited and can share in their joy when they get better. Seeing someone’s cholesterol, blood sugar or blood pressure levels improve are amazing but helping to improve someone’s function and quality of life is truly gratifying.

It was not complicated to branch out on my own but there is fear because we (physicians) are trained to work within a health care system with no training on the business of medicine. In 2020, I realized it was time to step out on faith and I have no regrets. I’ve learned that practicing medicine doesn’t have to look as cookie cutter as it is presented. I can serve in a way that I am proud of at the end of the day.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m a foodie so we would definitely eat most of the time! I love flavor! I try to experiment and go to a new restaurant every time I go out, but for some tried and true restaurants, I would choose Yebo and Alma Cocina, Ponce City Market for some variety and Eclipse de Luna for happy hour. I’m also a very outdoorsy and nature oriented person so we would probably check out the belt line and hike Kennesaw Mountain and Stone Mountain

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
If I have to only choose 1 (or 2) person(s) that I owe all of my success to, it would be my parents, who raised me to believe that I can do and be anything I desire…and I believed them!

Website: www.thehippiedoc.com

Instagram: The Hippie Doc

Facebook: Facebook.com/drsydneford