Dr. Lok, your friendly neighborhood doc.

I grew up in a small Ohio town, where my mother was the local chiropractor. As a child, I would be her little shadow on visits to the local Amish community. We would be invited into the patients’ homes on cold, wintery mornings: colorful herbs hanging in the kitchen; warm with the smell of fresh-baked bread. There, in the comfort and freedom of the patient’s own home, the patient would reveal their pains and receive a laying-on of healing hands. 

I grew up knowing this healing connection between doctor and patient.

I went on to pursue my own journey to become a healer in the demanding halls of medical school, but I was determined to not forget this memory of a healing doctor-patient relationship. I knew our medical system could be better: that humanity should be at the center of healthcare: not insurance companies and ‘big pharma’. I learned the conventional way of viewing health and disease at the premier osteopathic medical school; A.T. Still University in Missouri. However, I spent any time I had to myself developing my holistic medicine skills: hands-on osteopathic skills, food as medicine, nature healing, and energy healing. 

I then went on to family medicine residency for a grueling 3 years in the pine barrens of Maine. I saw thousands of patients and was the primary care physician for hundreds. There, I often had to prescribe pharmaceuticals to quickly address patient’s problems and get to the next patient to maximize insurance payment. At the end of residency, I turned down a high-paying job because I knew the type of doctor I could be and the healing that was possible for my patients. 

I couldn't find an established clinic that would allow me to have that healing connection with patients, so I decided to open my own. 

I was unsure about entering the unknown world of business and opening a clinic, but I trusted that practicing in alignment with my values outweighed the discomfort of the unknown.

It is my sincere hope that patients feel heard and feel comfortable at RiverRock Clinic. I hope that patients who otherwise struggle to find connection in our broken healthcare system, struggle to get both conventional primary care and a holistic/natural approach: can find their way to RiverRock Clinic. It would be my honor to be their primary care physician for the rest of their lives.  

- - -

When Dr. Lok is not in the clinic, she enjoys eating Ohio-style shredded chicken sandwiches with her parents who live in Ohio and hiking with her brother in Phoenix, Arizona. She also enjoys avoiding stepping on others’ feet at Tango events in North Carolina.