As a very young man, Sergey Kalitenko decided to study medicine after the death of his beloved grandmother. He felt helpless to save her, and became determined to help others. He worked his way through the grueling challenges of medical school, and has been practicing medicine for several decades.Dr. Sergey Kalitenko has been helping patients throughout a distinguished career – first as an emergency care physician and then as a head of Hyperbaric Department at highly respected Ukrainian hospitals and later as a physician treating inpatients and outpatients in the U.S. teaching hospital.Over the years of working in traditional medicine and talking to thousands of patients, Dr. Kalitenko began to feel that traditional medicine had become more like car repair than human care, as doctors rushed to treat symptoms rather than find their causes – it?s like patching a tire without finding the nail that made the hole.
In 2001, he decided he could better serve patients through his own practice, and he has helped many his patients discover wellness since then. His philosophy is simple and highly effective – find the root cause of the problem and treat naturally. Promote wellness and live healthy.
His desire to help others through natural techniques was motivated by one patient in particular — himself. His own experience as a heart patient has made him keenly aware of the frustrations that patients have with traditional medicine. It also showed him the power of Holistic medicine, which gave him the answer to his own health issues. His life?s work is to give patients a better way to take control of their own health.
A catastrophic event determined the course of Sergey Kalitenko?s life. His dearly loved grandmother became terminally ill with leukemia when he was a very young man. He was desperate to save her, and couldn?t. But he realized he could make a difference in other people?s lives, and became determined to become a doctor. He went to medical school and graduated with a medical degree from Donetsk Medical Institute in Ukraine at age 21. At age 27, Dr. Kalitenko became Head of the Hyperbaric Oxygenation Department of the Donetsk Clinical Hospital in Donetsk, Ukraine.
Upon moving to the United States, Dr. Kalitenko finished his medical residency at Coney Island Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, was Board Certified in Internal Medicine, and became a staff physician at a teaching hospital to care for in patients and out patients. He heard many stories from patients about the failings of traditional medicine. Many felt they weren?t treated as people, but as a collection of symptoms. And doctors didn?t always bother to find the cause of those symptoms. They just dashed off a prescription for pills, and sent patients on their way.
It was his own sudden illness that revealed the benefits of holistic medicine to Dr. Kalitenko. In his 40s, while working two jobs, he began to experience shortness of breath, chest pains and other serious symptoms. The diagnosis: heart problems. Traditional medicine treated the symptoms, but didn?t get to the real cause of his problems. To Dr. Kalitenko, it was like opening a window in a smoky room to let the smoke out, without finding out why the room was filling with smoke. He felt the frustration – he wanted to put out the fire, not just look for the flames! One thing he was sure of – pills weren?t the answer. His frustration grew. Then a friend introduced him to holistic, functional and anti-aging medicine. Dr. Kalitenko began to apply those ideas to his own health management. He experienced a remarkable recovery.
Dr. Kalitenko opened his private practice in 2001 while continuing with his hospital duties. His successful practice is based on the principles of holistic, functional medicine as weell as age management principles. Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy is a keystone of his practice.
He is firmly committed to finding natural solutions to health problems?and his first step is to use his expert diagnostic skills to get to the root of the problem. He will do all he can so his patients don?t have to go through the trauma he faced as a heart patient dealing with traditional medicine.
Dr. Kalitenko?s philosophy is that of wellness, not illness. After his experience with holistic healing for his own health, he now lives to help his patients get their lives back. Here?s just one example of how he does it?