About Me

I am a queer Indigenous scholar, educator, athlete, coach, and physician who is dedicated to finding innovative ways to help others live healthful, fulfilling, impactful lives. While most physicians spend years becoming experts on disease management, I have spent nearly 20 years at the university-level working to become an expert on health, wellness, and performance. Through this business, I combine all of my skills and expertise as a strength coach, fitness nutrition specialist, social psychology researcher, public health professional, and family medicine physician, with all of my lived experiences, connections, and identities to provide physicians and others in high-stress, demanding professions with unique, holistic, coaching, skill-building, support, and medical care experiences. I want all of my clients to experience how impactful individualized, high-performance and wellness-focused care can be during critical change moments in their lives.

Originally from Kansas, my journey has taken me to Nebraska, Colorado, New York, Ohio, and Michigan. Along the way, I have:

• been offered a full-ride opportunity to go to seminary
• worked with D1 collegiate athletes as part of the athletic medicine team
• taught undergraduates, medical students, and resident physicians
• set-up and ran two different research labs
• developed CDC-sponsored continuing education for physicians
• wrote book chapters and journal articles
• served as a reviewer for medical, psychology, and public health journals
• become a half-marathon and trail runner
• lost the 40 lbs I gained during the first 2 years of graduate school
• gained 25 lbs lifting weights while being a busy pre-med PhD student
• lost fat, built muscle, and improved my mental wellbeing during the course of medical school and residency
• helped mentor and empower dozens of current high-performance professionals in science and medicine
• worked with community partners to address the unique health and wellness needs of under-resourced and marginalized groups

Through out all of this, I have successfully found ways to leverage all that I have learned to achieve an incredible amount professionally, while also prioritizing my health, wellbeing, relationships, and ethical responsibilities. My goal is to make a living doing work that actively strenthens our communities by ensuring physicians and others in high-stress, demanding professions have the coaching, support, and guidance they need to stay healthy, perform better, and rapidly address any health issues that arise.   

Ohio Medical License (MD)

Ohio Medical Board

License #35.149610

Michigan Medical License (MD)

Michigan Board of Medicine

License #4301510702

Pursuing Lifestyle Medicine Board Certification [Expected 2027]

American Board of Lifestyle Medicine 

Pursuing Family Medicine Board Certification [Expected Summer 2025]

American Board of Family Medicine 

Family & Community Medicine Residency [Graduation Anticipated June 2025]

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

Doctor of Medicine, Family Medicine Primary Care Track

The Ohio State University College of Medicine 

Doctor of Philosophy in Social Psychology

Syracuse University 

Master of Public Health, Public Health Practice & Policy

SUNY Upstate Medical University 

Syracuse University (Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs)

Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist

National Strength & Conditioning Association

Certification #7248010696

Fitness Nutrition Specialist

American Council on Exercise

Certification #N849639

• POWER Skills Lab: A learner-centered research lab committed to providing pre-health students from marginalized and minoritized backgrounds with the research experience, skills, and mentorship necessary to be the next generation of healthcare leaders. 

Ioerger M, Turk MA. Addressing Ableism in Medical Education - The Disability Integration Toolkit. N Engl J Med. 2024;390(22):2041-2042. doi:10.1056/NEJMp2314163  [Link]

Makara J, Cain R, Glock L, Ioerger M, Holliday S. Barriers to correct pronoun usage in healthcare settings. BMC Med Educ. 2024;24,1056. doi:10.1186/s12909-024-06032-7  [Link]

French-Lawyer J, Siano S, Ioerger M, Young V, Turk MA. Health information seeking and people with disability: A systematic search and scoping review. Disabil Health J. 2021;14(1):100983. doi:10.1016/j.dhjo.2020.100983  [Link]

Goss KD, Abramson N, Ioerger M, Reyes AC, Turk MA. A systematic scoping study exploring opioid use across a variety of disability conditions. Disabil Health J. 2021;14(4):101106. doi:10.1016/j.dhjo.2021.101106  [Link]

Goss KD, Ioerger M, Young V, Flanders RM, Turk MA. A systematic search and technical review of online information pertaining to medical care for people with disability. Disabil Health J. 2020;13(2):100877. doi:10.1016/j.dhjo.2019.100877  [Link]

Ioerger M, Flanders RM, French-Lawyer JR, Turk MA. Interventions to Teach Medical Students About Disability: A Systematic Search and Review. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2019 Jul;98(7):577-599. doi: 10.1097/PHM.0000000000001154.   [Link]

Ioerger M, Machia LV, Turk MA. Self-other overlap: A unique predictor of willingness to work with people with disability as part of one's career. PLoS One. 2019;14(8):e0220722. Published 2019 Aug 12. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0220722  [Link]

Mitzel LD, VanderDrift LE, Ioerger M, Vanable PA. The Effect of Partner Serostatus and Relationship Duration on HIV Medication Adherence. AIDS Behav. 2019;23(2):499-503. doi:10.1007/s10461-018-2244-9  [Link]

Ioerger M, Flanders RM, Goss KD, Turk MA. Developing a systematic search strategy related to people with disability: A brief report testing the utility of proposed disability search terms in a search about opioid use. Disabil Health J. 2019;12(2):318-322. doi:10.1016/j.dhjo.2018.11.009  [Link]

VanderDrift LE, Ioerger M, Mitzel LD, Vanable PA. Partner Support, Willingness to Sacrifice, and HIV Medication Self-Efficacy. AIDS Behav. 2017;21(8):2519-2525. doi:10.1007/s10461-017-1698-5  [Link]

Ioerger M, Henry KL, Chen PY, Cigularov KP, Tomazic RG. Beyond Same-Sex Attraction: Gender-Variant-Based Victimization Is Associated with Suicidal Behavior and Substance Use for Other-Sex Attracted Adolescents [published correction appears in PLoS One. 2015 Sep 25;10(9):e0139532. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0139532]. PLoS One. 2015;10(6):e0129976. Published 2015 Jun 12. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0129976  [Link]

Kaufman MR, Ioerger M, Harman JJ, Modarres N. Nature, extent and implications of belief in Kikombe cha babu and other herbal HIV cures in Tanzania. AIDS Care. 2014;26(12):1541-1545. doi:10.1080/09540121.2014.936815  [Link]

Lehmiller JJ, Ioerger M. Social networking smartphone applications and sexual health outcomes among men who have sex with men. PLoS One. 2014;9(1):e86603. Published 2014 Jan 23. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0086603  [Link]