By the time Dr. Dawn opened Metta, saying yes to the Care Coordinator position was a no brainer for Kholood. As the Care Coordinator, one of Kholood’s favorite parts of working at Metta is the range of cutting edge technology that Dr. Dawn integrates into the clinic to best support her patients.

Prior to working at Metta, Kholood sought a breadth of knowledge through education, making her an exceptionally qualified professional. She began her career as a Registered Nurse after earning her Associate’s Degree from the City Colleges of Chicago. She then completed a Bachelor of Science in Biology at Northeastern Illinois University before shifting her focus to Eastern medicine. Kholood went on to graduate school, completing a Master of Science in Traditional Oriental Medicine with a focus on acupuncture and herbalism, and later finished coursework for a Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine at Pacific College. Kholood is a Licensed acupuncturist and board certified herbalist.

When asked about what drew her to incorporating both Western and Eastern medicine in her career she shared, “I remember my dad used to talk a lot about his mom and his grandparents using herbs and plants to heal. That was always something that I grew up with. Since my undergrad is in biology and the sciences, I went into nursing, because it's a broad scope of dealing with many different clinicians and working as patient centered care.”

She went on to share more about what inspired her transition from nursing to Eastern medicine. “I'm very hands on. The same reason for going into nursing is why I ended up going into Eastern Medicine. I felt like in nursing, there was only so much I could do. I wanted to help patients gain control of their health and not just when they're already ill, but as preventive medicine as well.”

Kholood’s extensive background in Eastern and Western medicine gives her a unique perspective on the benefits of acupuncture. In Western health systems, medicine is often used to solve the symptom of a problem while Eastern medicine focuses on recalibrating the body and helping create a sense of balance by addressing the root cause of a recurring symptom. She shared, “A lot of times, we in western society think of the body as a machine that can keep pushing. We just add the same inefficient fuel.” She continued, “The way doctor Dawn treats here at Metta Perspective is very science based. It's all about cellular regeneration. It's about making sure that we absorb essential nutrients, real fuel. Which is important because our lifestyle in the west is very conducive to burnout.”

Throughout her career, Kholood has developed a specific focus on pain management, gastrointestinal health, and emotional health because they are deeply interconnected. On explaining the focus of these areas in her work Kholood shared; “I recognize people don't connect these issues. Society has been trained to compartmentalized these issues into separate things. This is why I specialize on those three complaints. Often we find, where a disease ends is not where it starts and these three are always connected.”

Kholood explains signs of imbalance noted by the health of our gut. “if we have an emotional disturbance; it can disrupt the physiological function of digestion. This will cascade into the nervous system, and we start to get symptoms of anxiety. The body responds with tension in the system. When we tense up, it begins the cycle of pain. So all of it goes back to what happened first. You can't treat one without the other.”

She continued to explain the important role of gut health in overall health: “Research has proven, the epitome of our health starts in the gut."

In terms of the future, Kholood looks forward to the possibility of Western practitioners and Eastern practitioners working together. She shared “Especially [in] acupuncture, I definitely would love to see more continuity of care. We get a lot of patients who already have their set Western physicians which is great because that helps us gauge where they're at. But then what I'd like to see is more of a community… Having that camaraderie where we can communicate with the Western clinicians in regards to our shared patients.” She shared more about why increased connection and continuity between Western and Eastern practitioners in the future could be impactful. “That would be true holistic care."