Jacksonville, FL, February 7, 2012 – Dr. Kirksak Jay Poonkasem, Medical Director of the Brookside Hospice House of Suncoast Hospice and volunteer Affiliate Assistant Professor of the USF Department of Family Medicine, brings an integrative approach to family medicine.
“Medicine isn’t just about the physical body, you have to take into account the patient’s mental and spiritual state because the mind and the body are intertwined,” explained Dr. Poonkasem. “Treating one affects the other and we can’t neglect that aspect of it. The integrative approach is a combination of western and alternative medicine and focuses on treating the person as a whole.”
Dr. Poonkasem began dipping his toes in a variety of healthcare pools early on. After graduating from the University of South Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Biology in 2000, he attended Traviss Technical Center in Lakeland and received his certification in Massage Therapy, then went on to graduate as a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Florida College of Medicine in 2005.
“What I learned while working with family doctors in medical school is that the majority of them actually liked what they were doing. Their personality and the bedside manner were different than any other doctors I had ever worked with,” he explained. “So family medicine, to me, was a natural choice.”
While completing his Residency and Administrative Fellowship via The University of South Florida/Morton Plant Mease Family Medicine Residency Program in 2008, Dr. Poonkasem stayed on an extra year to complete a certification in Medical Acupuncture from UCLA/Stanford University – Helms Medical Institute. During his acupuncture course, Dr. Poonkasem started an acupuncture clinic at his residency program.
Dr. Poonkasem next did a fellowship in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in 2010 while maintaining his role as a Hospice & Palliative Care Physician at Suncoast Hospice by traveling back and forth between Arizona and Florida.
After completing his fellowship, he made the decision to stay with his native roots and practice medicine in Florida. “I thought about everywhere I could move and decided Florida is the best place to be and I couldn’t see myself anywhere else. Just being in the state of Florida, it’s the perfect place to practice.”
He is actively involved in enhancing patient’s quality of care by striving to educate patients, physicians, and health practitioners about the integrative approach to medicine and the benefits it provides. Additionally, Dr. Poonkasem is on the Adjunct Clinical Faculty of the Physician Assistant Program at Barry University’s St. Petersburg Campus. He also serves on the Florida Academy of Family Physician’s Board of Directors as the Member at Large, the Communication’s Committee as Vice-Chair and as a member of the Medical Education Committee.
In addition to his role as a full-time physician, Dr. Poonkasem takes a cue from his patient’s advice and tries to live life to the fullest with out regrets. He firmly believes in self-care and does so through his many diverse passions – photography, tennis, golf, playing the guitar, Scuba Diving, Qigong, and yoga.
“Family physicians are the jacks-of-all-trades; the hub for providing healthcare to patients,” said Dr. Poonkasem. “It’s not just your heart, it’s everything else and your heart. That’s why having a family doctor is very important because we are able to see the patient as a whole and not just a body part.”
