Meet Michelle Manley, DO

Get to know Dr. Michelle Manley and read through our recent Q/A where she shares about her role at Table Health and some areas of her personal and professional life.

Q. What is your area of expertise?
A. Family Medicine.  As a family physician I see patients as young as newborns through adults of all ages.  I have interests in the management and prevention of chronic conditions, women’s health, breastfeeding medicine, and osteopathic manipulation.

Q. What is your role at Table Health?
A. Primary Care Physician in Traverse City.

Q. What are some of the symptoms you commonly treat?
A. Anything and everything, from something acute like a UTI or a cold to chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. I also do osteopathic manipulation (OMT) for musculoskeletal complaints.

Q. What does a typical visit look like with you?
A. While each visit generally has a similar flow,  first talking about current concerns, doing a physical exam, and discussing a plan and next steps, each visit is tailored to each individual and their needs.

Q. How do you treat and care for your patients?
A. I focus on patient-centered evidenced-based care. I want to provide a judgment-free space to work in a partnership with a patient to achieve their individual health goals.

Q. What makes your approach to health different?
A. I have a holistic approach that focuses on the whole person – mind, body, and spirit. While I have the medical training, each individual knows their own body best and there is no one-size fit all approach. Everyone has different values, expectations and experiences that they bring to every aspect of their life, health and wellness included.

Q. What health trends excite you the most?
A. I think it’s exciting that there’s been greater focus on nutrition and lifestyle, empowering patients to take control of their own health and wellness.

Q. Who do you follow in the medical, health/wellness community? Why?
A. Dr. Tieraona Low Dog, MD. She is a pioneer of integrative medicine and has a very diverse and interesting background in medicine, including midwifery and herbalism. She is also a wonderful storyteller and weaves medical knowledge with personal life experiences and is overall inspirational.

Dr. Mark Hyman, MD. He’s a functional medicine doctor and talks about a lot of topics, often in short, easy to digest graphics. His email list also provides healthy and delicious recipes.

Dr. Katrina Mitchell, MD, IBCLC. She is a breast surgeon with a specialized interest in evidence-based breastfeeding medicine. She has a website debunking common breastfeeding myths and is very active in the email listserv I follow where practitioners ask clinical breastfeeding questions.

Lily Nichols, RDN. She discusses nutritional research and has books on prenatal and postpartum nutrition focusing on real, whole foods, which I found very insightful during my own pregnancies and continues to be applicable.

Q. How do you spend your free time?
A. I have two young boys, 7 and 4, so I spend a lot of time with them – it’s so fun seeing them learn and explore the world. I also really enjoy hiking, gardening, reading, and going to a local sauna and cold plunge.

Q. Who inspires you?
A. My children inspire me to be the best I can be and help shape a more beautiful and healthy future for them.

Q. What book did you last read?
A. Breath by James Nestor

Q. What do you love about the Traverse City area?
A. The natural beauty, the trees, the lakes, the wildlife, the seasons. Nature is my happy place and I think Traverse City has a great balance of the great outdoors as well as modern conveniences.

Q. Why did you choose this profession?
A. I have always loved working with people and love science and biology so I knew I wanted to do something in the health sector. I felt immediately called to becoming a DO when I first heard the tenets of osteopathic medicine. I value that a person is a unit of body, mind and spirit and that the body is capable of self-regulation, self-healing and health maintenance.