Susan L. Hartfield, PharmD, RPAC, Holistic Health Counselor has been a practicing pharmacist for over fifteen years. With a lifelong interest in medicine, Susan knew she wanted to be involved with helping people in some way. She formally began this journey in 1992 after graduating from the State University of New York at Buffalo with a Bachelor's degree in Pharmacy. Over the next several years, Susan honed her skills as a pharmacist. Her experience includes hospital medicine, community pharmacy and homecare pharmacy. To further advance her clinical skills, Susan attended the Albany College of Pharmacy, graduating Magna Cum Laude with a Doctorate of Pharmacy degree in 2001. Though this advanced knowledge has helped her take better care of her patients, Susan decided to take a more active role in patient care. Thus, in 2006, Susan graduated, with highest honors, from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a Physician Assistant degree.

Through her many years of experience, Susan has seen firsthand that the world we live in today, is a fast-paced, high-stress environment. To put it simply: It's about the quantity and not necessarily about the quality. In a society dominated by the mainstream commercialism of pharmaceuticals, it has become evident that people are taking more medication than ever before without necessarily achieving  their health care goals. This combined with poor eating habits and minimal exercise has been a recipe for a society of unhealthy and unhappy people. As such, it has been surmised, the majority of chronic disease is caused by our emotions, improper nutrition, nutritional deficiencies and lack of exercise.

To that end, Susan has taken her years of experience in the medical and pharmaceutical fields and married it with her innate belief in a holistic approach. Susan believes there is an intimate connection between what we eat and how we feel. If we put less-than-high-quality food in our bodies, then our bodies are gong to feel less-than-high-quality. Optimal health begins with proper eating habits and stress reduction. To address these issues of nutrition and wellness, Susan decided to attend the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to complement her medical training with a more holistic approach to nutrition and wellness. As a Holistic Nutrtion and Health Counselor, Susan works with clients to help create a healthy body and lifestyle. This is accomplished by teaching clients about their current state of health and helping them learn how to make healthy meals that properly nourish the body.

Susan practices what she preaches, happily living a holistic life with her husband, Eric, and their two dogs and three cats. Susan has seen first-hand how a natural diet and lifestyle has improved her health issues as well as with their pets. This has reaffirmed her belief in what she does, and she looks forward to the challenges she faces with her clients, sharing her knowledge while enjoying learning new things from them too!