Meet Dr. Patrice High

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dr. Patrice High a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Dr. Patrice, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

Caring for the sickest patients in our country (here in the stroke belt) for the last 23 years as a Family Physician—and now as a Lifestyle Medicine Physician—I’ve had a front-row seat to patients getting sicker at younger ages. This revelation, after my own health struggles with obesity and new-onset shortness of breath postpartum, as well as having COVID-19 three separate times despite all precautions, led to an inherent need to practice medicine differently than I was originally trained. The classic medical model no longer served me.

Despite access to the best medications and interventions in the world, we—as humans, here in the U.S.—are still sicker than any other country. Watching patients younger than myself improve in one area of their health, only to have catastrophic events in others, was not only disheartening—it was terribly unfulfilling. I knew there was a missing piece to my training. I just needed to find it.

Through research and persistence, I found the missing link: Lifestyle Medicine. It became the key for me and ignited a new purpose—partnering with my patients using a lifestyle-first approach, alongside medications when necessary. Teaching women how to incorporate lifestyle tools in a simple, practical manner to prevent, improve, and even reverse chronic disease is so much more fulfilling and empowering—for me as a clinician, and for my patients.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’m Dr. Patrice High—a mother, wife, and a Board-Certified Family Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine physician with over 23 years of experience. I’m also a frustrated provider who desperately wanted BETTER outcomes for my patients. I was angry that the career I pledged to honor had failed me and my patients—believing I had all the tools I needed to help people heal.

When my one and only baby was born, he came with a 30-lb extension to my waist on my already obese frame. I have been overweight/obese while yo-yo dieting all my life, and this didn’t help my wellness or self-esteem—despite all my accolades. The day my beautiful infant was crying in his upstairs bedroom, and I struggled to climb 12 stairs—needing to catch my breath at the top— this was the first time I felt like a failure as a mother.

I thought about what my child would think of me in the future. I was disappointed in myself as a doctor, too. How could I expect my patients to engage in their wellness if I wasn’t going to? In that moment, it felt like I was failing at all aspects of my life. We all engage in behaviors that don’t serve us. I had resigned myself to the assumption that all the women in my family just end up diabetic in their 40s anyway.

But deep in my soul, I did not want this to be my fate. I longed to do it differently—but I didn’t know how. I had not only failed myself but, most importantly, my patients. I knew I needed better options to help all of us.

So, I did what most Type A people do—I did an extensive search. That search led me to the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. Through proven research, patients can prevent, improve, and even reverse lifestyle illnesses like obesity, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, early heart disease, and early dementia.

This discovery helped me overcome my own self-limiting beliefs and realize I am not my genes. I no longer needed to worry that I couldn’t reverse my “expected fate.” That was hugely empowering. My first step in this transformation was shifting to a plant-forward diet. Success in that area gave me the confidence to improve other lifestyle measures.

I was finally able to release that 30+ lbs and be the example I knew I was called to be—for my son, my family, and my patients. As I transformed, my patients began asking me to share my tips and tricks for weight loss, reducing medication needs, and achieving wellness.

Being able to share my journey reignited the love I had for a career I had started to regret. Supporting people toward wellness through science-backed lifestyle coaching is why I went into medicine all those years ago. Now, my work finally feels aligned with my purpose.

At NuEmpowerment Health, we use a lifestyle-first approach through a telehealth model—what every patient deserves. I created my method of care because women deserve to be seen, heard, and valued through extended visits that address their true health goals—in the privacy of their own space.

We build customized, personalized, lifestyle-mediated programs for each client—where they are in the driver’s seat of their empowered healing, with accountability at every visit from a physician coach. This respects the PCP relationship, while also recognizing that a short doctor visit is not conducive to the needs of patients with chronic illness. NuEmpowerment Health offers a premium telehealth coaching experience for women ready to reclaim energy, reverse chronic illness, and lead their families toward vibrant, sustainable well-being.
We specialize in personalized, science-backed lifestyle programs that honor your past but usher your health into the future.

After more than two decades in conventional medicine, Dr. High recognized a critical gap in how care is delivered. The traditional model prioritizes sick care, leaving little room for prevention, personalization, or whole-person healing. NuEmpowerment Health was born from the belief that women deserve precision medical solutions that support lasting vitality and generational health.

🌿 Signature Services:
30-min No-Cost Comprehensive Health Assessment

60-minute Virtual Visits

Personalized Lifestyle Plans

Nutritional Support

Primary Care Consultations

1:1 Coaching Options

Corporate Wellness & Local Workshop Speaker- Georgia, Asheville and upcoming Durham Veg Fests, Diabetes Intervention Program, Healthy Living Expo-Atlanta, GA, Health Made Simple Community

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1) Persistence
2) Love of the medicine and people’s health
3) Self- reflection

Set a goal and complete the necessary steps to get there—one step at a time to avoid overwhelm.

Listen to God, your higher power, or even your gut when you feel you need a career pivot. If you’re unhappy or unfulfilled, figure out why—and take the appropriate steps to make it better or change your circumstances.

Don’t be afraid to pivot your career. Obtain the skills needed to walk in your purpose with fulfillment and build the career you love!

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

Yes. I’m looking to collaborate with:
Motivated women ready to embrace their body’s inherent capacity to heal with a lifestyle-first approach—or those already on medications, seeking to reduce dependence through simple, practical lifestyle changes.

Corporations offering employee wellness programs—because healthier employees have fewer missed workdays and are more productive, pleasant, and collaborative.

Primary care providers, psychologists and specialists in ortho, neuro, and endo—who want support for their patients with customized lifestyle health coaching around nutrition, physical activity, stress, sleep, substance use, and social connection. This coaching takes place in extended visits while the provider maintains their doctor-patient relationship and medication management.

These collaborations can decrease adverse patient outcomes and lower medical costs—for both the country and individual patients.

I am actively seeking paid speaking opportunities in the following spaces:

Women’s organizations focused on community and family health

Faith-based organizations wanting to share wellness opportunities with their community

Federal entities such as Veterans Affairs or military institutions looking to expand corporate wellness initiatives

Corporate audiences, to educate teams on using the body’s natural healing capacity through lifestyle medicine

Women’s Wellness Retreats

Wellness and health organizations in need of engaging, evidence-based speakers on:

Chronic illness (diabetes, heart disease, etc.)
Lifestyle changes to mitigate disease
Meal prep and plant-forward eating—made simple and practical

To inquire about speaking engagements or collaborations, contact us at:
📧 www.nuempowermenthealth.com

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Christian Osborne
Chuck Williams

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