October Newsletter
Meet Our Contributor: Dr. Olivia Dhaliwal
Building Medicine Outside the Box
Olivia Dhaliwal, MD is a family medicine resident and integrative clinician in North Carolina whose work sits at the intersection of community health, movement, and metabolic restoration. Before medical school, she taught high school math and science with Teach For America on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, where she witnessed firsthand how poor access to trustworthy, preventive care undermines sovereignty and self-determination. That formative experience—along with early study of nutrition and traditional foodways—pulled her back to medicine with a mandate to help people reclaim agency over their health.
Olivia earned her medical degree from Case Western Reserve University (Class of 2024) after years of hands-on service in the Indian Health Service, where she helped start a hepatitis C treatment program, provided substance-use care, and ran a jail clinic. Those roles deepened her commitment to whole-person, relationship-based care and to building systems that work for real people outside of hospitals.
She practices and coaches CrossFit, which she began in 2012. What started as a difficult entry into group fitness became a durable practice—and a philosophy. As an athlete and coach, she treats the gym as a “grown-up playground,” a place for hard work and joy, where scaling is a tool for ownership, not a sign of limitation. Coaching, she says, “fills my cup,” and the habits of great coaching—meeting people where they are, setting clear standards, and celebrating progress—inform her bedside manner as a physician. She believes clinicians should learn to coach, and coaches should feel welcome as health partners inside their communities.
Guided by mentors across integrative and conventional medicine, Olivia trained in medical acupuncture during her intern year and now incorporates it alongside evidence-based family medicine. Her approach was influenced by a personal story: after struggling with pain and side effects from medications she no longer wanted, integrative care—acupuncture, movement, and thoughtful reframing of stress—restored her health and reshaped her clinical lens. Today, she offers acupuncture and lifestyle-forward primary care with the same goal for patients: nervous-system calm, metabolic resilience, and genuine capacity for daily life.
Olivia comes from a lineage of community physicians; her grandfather was a small-town family doctor who delivered babies, worked in the hospital, and cared for neighbors across the lifespan. She carries that full-scope spirit forward—unafraid of prenatal care, deeply at home in continuity clinics, and relentlessly curious about what else might help. Outside residency, she has launched a cash-based practice inside a like-minded women’s health and medical spa, keeping overhead lean through creative partnerships so she can focus on access, time, and results.
As a contributor to the CrossFit Medical Society, Olivia is documenting her journey from residency toward a community-rooted, coach-informed model of care. Expect updates on building a practice, blending acupuncture with primary care, and practical templates other clinicians can use to step outside insurance constraints. Her north star is simple and ambitious: help people move, eat, sleep, and connect in ways that make disease less likely—and make freedom possible.
Hi CFMS! I'm Olivia, CrossFit Level 2 coach, second year rural family medicine resident, generalist healer, acupuncturist, and budding herbalist. I'm writing to you from the mountains of western North Carolina in Boone. This snippet is going to be a monthly installment of updates on my journey through residency, coaching, and growing through this precious, wild life. I have been a part of the CFMS for about four years, following the newsletters and listening to the monthly interviews which have nourished and inspired me along my journey. I hope my stories will similarly support you.
Last week I opened my own practice, a space I dreamed up in my second year of medical school. It's called the golden lotus because lotus flowers bloom in the murkiest of waters, and my logo is my two hands holding and protecting the flower while its roots intertwine my wrists and fingers. This logo represents the way that I hope to protect and support my patients to flourish amidst the unbelievable obstacles that exist in our world today - from glyphosate and processed foods to chronic stress and sedentary lifestyles, not to mention the hamster wheel of capitalism and the myriad natural disasters and wars that plague our planet. Amidst all of the chaos in our world, I have found the small way I wish to contribute to a better future - through the micro-efforts of supporting local food and farmers, and providing holistic healing and the best parts of western medical care in rural places. the golden lotus is a space of healing, respite, and safety for my patients – not unlike what CrossFit Postal is for me.
In my logo, the roots of my patients intertwine with my hands because I am not a separate woman (see: Joy Harjo's poem, Fire). Mitakuye oyasin (this is Lakota and means: we are all related): my patients are my relatives. I share the same ecosystem of my patients. How each of us chooses to live, heal, play, work, affects ALL of us. Healing happens in the community, and I take that responsibility seriously. I intentionally live and practice in a place where I cannot hide, where I am forced to live out the values I say I hold dear. In the coming months, I'll share stories along my journey that highlight the ways that holistic healing, western medicine, and CrossFit overlap and inform each other
New at Penn State: CFMS Mentorship Program Launch
We’re excited to share that the CrossFit Medical Society (CFMS) is launching a mentorship program in partnership with the Penn State CrossFit Club.
This program will pair students (undergraduates and graduates alike) with mentors from the CrossFit community — coaches, healthcare professionals, entrepreneurs, and others — who embody the discipline, resilience, and community values we hold dear.
If you’ve been looking for a way to give back, guide emerging leaders, or help students carry the CrossFit mindset into professional life — this is your chance. Mentors will be matched for a one-year commitment, with resources and guidance provided throughout the program. For the full article and to learn how to participate check out The Barbell Spin
.
Save the Date:
The First CFMS Health Integration Summit
We’re thrilled to announce the inaugural Health Integration Summit, launching in 2026 — where fitness meets medicine and affiliates become the next generation of community health hubs.
This live event will bring together coaches, clinicians, and affiliate owners to learn, connect, and build the systems that redefine what healthcare looks like inside the gym.
Earn CME & CEU credits
Become an official CFMS Health Hub listed in the Affiliate Health Hub Directory
Access the new Health Integration Guide and hands-on implementation workshops.
Be the first to get notified when early registration opens — this is your chance to be part of the movement that’s changing healthcare from the ground up.
Save the date. Build the future.
Introducing the CommunityCare Longevity Program
At CFMS, we believe health should be rewarded—not penalized. The new CommunityCare Longevity Program aligns your financial contributions with your commitment to improving your health.
Here’s how it works: members who submit one or more key health metrics—fasting insulin, high-sensitivity CRP, or a DEXA scan showing visceral fat—can earn up to 20% off their monthly contribution throughout 2026.
It’s simple: the better your health, the less you pay.
Because when we take action to improve our health, the system should move with us—not against us.
This is the future of community-based healthcare—where fitness, data, and responsibility meet.
Opt in now through January 30, 2026.
Open Enrollment Is Here — and the Numbers Don’t Lie
As open enrollment kicks off, millions of Americans are bracing for another year of rising insurance premiums. The average plan has an increase of premiums at 18%.
Now is the time to do your fact-checking. Look at your rates. See how they’ll impact your family, your gym, and your future.
At CFMS, we’re wrapping up our first full year of CommunityCare, and the results speak for themselves. CFMS Co-founder Jenn Pishko decided to put what would have been her traditional monthly premium—$1,250—into a separate account used only for her CommunityCare membership and crowdfunding contributions.
After twelve months, she covered every real healthcare cost that came up… and still saved more than $9,000.
That’s what happens when you trade premiums for participation, bureaucracy for community, and sickness care for true health.
This month’s Grand Rounds featured Dr. José Ostaiza—physician, researcher, and L3 CrossFit coach—on the cutting edge of epigenetics and human performance.
His research shows what CrossFitters have felt for years: training doesn’t just build fitness—it reprograms biology.
Highlights include:
How HIIT has the strongest impact on DNA methylation and aging markers
Why lifestyle can “turn off” genes that drive disease
The emerging science that consistent training can reduce biological age by over 3 years
Hosted by Tom McCoy and Jennifer Pishko, this conversation reframes aging as something you can treat through movement, nutrition, and recovery.
🎥 Watch the replay on YouTube
October Feature: Breast Cancer Awareness Month
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a time to recognize the strength of women navigating diagnosis, treatment, and recovery — and to highlight the role community plays in that journey.
Last month’s article, How CrossFit Community Support Drives Cancer Risk Reduction, explored how the CrossFit model provides more than just fitness — it builds resilience. Through movement, accountability, and social support, CrossFit helps individuals establish habits that reduce cancer risk and improve quality of life during and after treatment.
This month, we’re proud to spotlight Compete for the Cure, a nonprofit that supports women currently in treatment or remission through fitness, community, and empowerment. Their work mirrors what we see in affiliates every day — movement as medicine, and community as the foundation for healing.
To learn more or get involved, visit https://competeforacure.org/
