My name is Dr. Heather Bartos,

… But I also know most women have a serious case of laryngitis in the exam room —
and don’t speak up for themselves when it come to their health.
(Trust me. I’m a doctor.)

And you know what? It’s not our fault.

Real talk: Our conventional healthcare system isn’t set up to serve women.

Not “just” because doctors have 10-15 minute windows to talk to every patient— which means we’re often treating symptoms, instead of the deeper cause (like trauma, mental blocks, or toxic relationships)…

Or “just” because there’s a mountain of health info out there via Instagram and Dr. Google (some good, some bad, some straight-up kooky)…

Or “just” because women are trained from a young age to ignore our physical, mental, and emotional well-being to make other people more comfortable (looking at YOU, patriarchy)…

But the good news is:
You + me? Together, we can stop this.

I’m here to be part no-bullshit bestie, part smarty-pants (and smarty-ass) medical and mindset guide, and all-around rowdy Texas cheerleader for you as you walk the path of uncovering what healthy means to YOU.

Not your mom.
Not that Instagram fitness guru.
Not even your doctor.
YOU.

Welcome to the revolution, badass. Love your shoes.

Now you’re aware of your badass status, you might be wondering how all this came to be.

Grab yourself a cup of something tasty, flip on some trash TV in the background, and settle in.

This is a tale of one paintball pellet, a Dynasty hospital, and four big ah-ha’s.

I decided I wanted to be a doctor when I was… 28 years old.

As you can probably guess, I’m an “out-of-the-box” kinda gal, so my career trajectory wasn’t exactly clear-cut. And by the end of my 20’s, that was causing something of a crisis.

I got my start in advertising, PR, and marketing, working for country singers and comedians like Drew Carey in Nashville, Tennessee…

… Until I accidentally hit my boss in the family jewels with a paintball at a company tournament. Uh-oh.

After “not being invited back” (read: fired) I walk of shame-d it home to Texas, got dumped by my boyfriend of 7 years, and… had a total meltdown.

Always a self-help junkie, I went to shamans and healers and therapists in search of answers, trying to figure out what to do with my life. Around the same time, I started working with the PR team at the world-renowned Texas Medical Center.

After a bunch of cool projects with Texas Children’s Hospital I was hooked, and had the first big ah-ha moment of my journey:

“You know what? I’d rather be doing this than writing press releases about it.”

“So you just up and decided to go to med school one day!?” My dad asked when he heard my plan.

And my answer was: “Hell yeah I did.”

I finished my prereqs, landed a coveted placement, and joined the Navy to serve my country and cover the costs.

That’s when my second ah-ha moment hit me like a ton of bricks, and I realized: “I wanna do that for women!”.

Little did I know, my true calling was just ahead.

After residency, I went back into the Navy and was stationed at medical facilities in South Carolina and then Washington, D.C. where I was also associate professor at the military’s medical school.

Now, military medicine is super idealistic. No competition, no insurance squabbles, no pharmacies, and plenty of time for 15-20 patients a day.

Which is probably why, after having my second baby at the age of 40 and shipping back to Texas with my husband, I went into corporate medicine and… hated every second.

Think: Dynasty in a doctor’s office. Lying, backstabbing, and fraud, all while squeezing in 40 patients per day in 5 minute appointments or I’d be penalized by “the man”.

I barely had time to ask my patients what the problem was, let alone get to know them. Eventually I wound up in the hospital with pneumonia while nursing my second baby, and asked myself:

“What the f*ck am I doing here?! I’ve gotta get out.”

I didn’t just want to give my patients pills and prescriptions, I wanted to help them dig deep into the way they saw themselves, their health, and their bodies, shift their mindset, and start to define what “healthy” looked like for them.

Before long, I took off like a hobo down the road and opened up a village for women’s health called Be. Women’s Health and Wellness.

It’s a place where women can get seen by the best medical providers, and get access to everything else they needed for their mental and spiritual health too; like yoga, wellness workshops, meditation, and more.

It started as just two providers (me and my Nurse Practitioner), but has since grown to 6 providers with over 14 available services, both medical and holistic.

As I like to say: We’re here to treat the whole woman, not just a woman’s hole. (Bet you won’t forget that one any time soon. ;))

But this entire journey has led me to my fourth and final ah-ha: I want to make a bigger impact on the world with this work.

I want to help women outside of the 10–15 minute appointments.

I want to help women cut through the bullshit they’ve been fed by society and culture, and set themselves free to do and be who they want to be.

And I want to help women uncover what healthy truly means to them, and learn to look at themselves as whole people, not just a set of symptoms and checkups.

Making that shift isn’t always easy though—which is why I created HeatherBartosMD.com… and why I’m writing this to you.

I’m here to help you transform the way you think about health, and get you to feeling the best you’ve felt in your life (before you lose a pound, take a pill, or step onto a yoga mat).

Because really—you can lose the weight, manage your symptoms, and get yourself into down dog every week and still be as unhappy as you were when you started.

That’s why our mindset—and the way we choose to shift it—is the real medicine:

When we start to think beyond symptoms, examine our thoughts, beliefs, physical health, sexuality, and life circumstances… profound changes happen.

We put ourselves back in the driver’s seat of our lives, stop comparing ourselves to others, and become the healthiest, happiest version of ourselves — regardless of weight, diagnosis, or ability to do a headstand.

That’s my deepest dream for you. And I’m so damn happy you’re here to start the journey.