Provider Spotlight: Shiroko Sokitch, MD
by Clinical Consulting Team
Dr. Shiroko Sokitch is the owner of Heart to Heart
Medical Center in Santa 
Rosa, California, since 1993. Dr. Shiroko is an expert at using many modalities to bring the body to balance and wholeness; her specialty is healing when it seems impossible. She brings hope and healing to difficult health conditions by blending Chinese and Western medicine with a deep spiritual and emotional healing approach.
Trained in general surgery and working as an Emergency Room Doctor for 10 years while attending acupuncture school, gave Dr. Shiroko a broad range of medical experience. Her new book – Healing When It Seems Impossible – 7 Keys to Defy the Odds, is a book about her unique and comprehensive healing approach.
DUTCH: What inspired you to become a healthcare practitioner?
Dr. Shiroko: I was inspired to become a healthcare practitioner when I was 5 years old, my dearest person in the world – my great grandmother collapsed in front of me and died. I wanted to save her life and realized that doctors did that type of thing – so I decided to become a doctor.
DUTCH: What is your training?
Dr. Shiroko: I am an MD, trained at University of Washington, two years of surgical residency at Swedish hospital – Seattle, Northwest Institute of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine – acupuncture training for 3 years.
Certified by IFM as a Functional Medicine Practitioner; and AAMA – American Academy of Medical Acupuncture.
DUTCH: Describe your medical background/practice?
Dr. Shiroko: I’ve been practicing in Santa Rosa CA, for 25 years – doing a blend of Chinese and Western medicine – using both acupuncture and functional medicine.
DUTCH: What other functional testing do you use in your practice?
Dr. Shiroko: I use the GI MAP test and NutrEval most often. In addition to DUTCH testing, and normal blood tests.
DUTCH: How have you incorporated DUTCH Testing into your practice?
Dr. Shiroko: I use DUTCH testing to evaluate my patients’ adrenal hormones and to understand how they metabolize them. It is a vitally important part of my practice since most of my patients have hormonal issues.
DUTCH: What are the changes you have seen in your patients and practice since incorporating the DUTCH Test?
Dr. Shiroko: I feel like I have better understanding of how their metabolism works, which helps me help them in a wonderfully individualized way.
DUTCH: Where do you see functional/ integrative medicine 20 years from now?
Dr. Shiroko: I feel like this is the way of the future – most physicians will practice a more integrative form of medicine because it works.
DUTCH: What do you like to do outside of work?
Dr. Shiroko: I love Latin dance, skiing, and cooking great meals for my friends.
