In 2013 I started my own pediatrics practice to create a space that felt like home, and where the heart of that home could be the kitchen. I found the perfect brick building where we created exam rooms on one side for my patients, and on the other, a teaching kitchen where The Dr. Yum Project could offer cooking classes to kids and families in the community. For years this space became the medical home to over four thousand patients at Yum Pediatrics. Families would often come in for a check-up, enjoy the garden and even stay through lunchtime to try a recipe that Wendy, our cooking coordinator, was testing for our website. Countless families and nonprofit partners enjoyed the teaching kitchen and instructional garden, finding fun and healthy ways to enjoy whole foods. Having my practice in the same building as our nonprofit activities created a synergistic relationship where I could understand families’ barriers around food with my practice team, then create tools and solutions with our nonprofit team, and finally offer those tools back to families. It was a dream come true to have this nourishing and dynamic career.

In 2020 the dynamic changed drastically. Masks made recognizing and connecting with patients difficult, and the challenges of solo private practice reached new heights. For many long months, we canceled cooking classes, and the kitchen became a place where I kept supplies to conduct COVID testing in the parking lot. The place that felt like a happy home felt hectic and stressful, and I wondered if the joy would ever return.

During these times, kids around the country were not exposed to their normal food environments, and we saw an emerging pandemic of picky eating. The toolbox the Dr. Yum Project created was more important than ever. Our network of Dr. Yum Project pediatric partners grew as pediatricians used this toolbox to inspire families to cook and eat more nutritious food. Early childhood educators were more interested in introducing Dr. Yum’s Preschool Food Adventure as children returned to school with pickier palates. As we saw this growth, I watched the demands of the nonprofit and practice take a toll on my family and my health. In 2023, I decided to close the practice and dedicate my time to growing our nonprofit. Over the past 10 months, I have mourned the loss of my patients and students but regained balance in my life. I have put my energy into a new Dr. Yum Project program called Touchpoints to help pediatricians nationwide with the overwhelming challenges of addressing childhood obesity.

I finally now realize that with all of this new frontier ahead, we have outgrown our beloved brick building. I decided to sell it to my friends Brian and Will so that they could expand their wellness enterprise and let the space continue to serve our community. It has been sad reminiscing and rummaging through all of the memories with the Dr. Yum Project team as we prepared for a move-out sale last weekend. But in the process, we encountered so many people who would find new, meaningful purposes for these belongings. Here are just a few examples:

  • A mother of four will use shelving units in a new expansion of her candle business.
  • Tammy Shamy, owner of Miss Tammy's Daycare picked up some kitchen items to help the sweet children she cares for and cooks with using Dr. Yum's Preschool Food Adventure.
  • A recent immigrant will repurpose supplies for use in her cleaning business.
  • RACSB’s Early Intervention program which assesses children with developmental delays will use our colorful waiting room furniture to brighten up their new office.
  • Spotsylvania YMCA will use our kids’ cooking tools to teach the Dr. Yum Preschool Food Adventure and an overhead projector for movie nights.
  • Many of the medical supplies and equipment from Yum Pediatrics have gone to area clinics for underinsured families.

We have enjoyed this little brick building so much. For the last ten years of my twenty-four-year career, this place is where I sat with patients in my veggie-themed exam rooms and gave myself the time to be a better pediatrician for the patients I loved. It is where our Dr. Yum Project team cooked delicious, nourishing foods in our bright, happy kitchen and learned how to make cooking fun for children and families. We look forward to sharing our lessons learned with even more physicians, families, and schools in more communities. Our goal is to have partner pediatricians and preschool programs like Head Start and YMCA in all fifty states. We are getting close, and I know we will get there soon. My team and I look forward to returning to this building in a few months for a regroup and recharge after its beautiful rebirth as the new Collage Spa.