Sergey Kalitenko's life was shaped by a horrific tragedy. When he was a young man, his beloved grandmother was diagnosed with leukemia and died. He tried everything he could to save her to no avail. However, he believed there was a way to make a difference in other people's lives and decided to pursue a career as a doctor. At the age of 21, he proceeded to medical school and graduated from the Donetsk Medical Institute in Ukraine with a medical degree. Dr. Kalitenko became the head of the Donetsk Clinical Hospital's Hyperbaric Oxygenation Department at the age of 27.

After moving to the United States, Dr. Kalitenko completed his medical residency at Coney Island Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, where he was Board Certified in Internal Medicine, and worked as a staff physician at a teaching hospital caring for both inpatients and outpatients. Patients told him countless stories of how traditional medicine failed them. Many people felt they were treated as lists of symptoms instead of as people. Too often, doctors wouldn’t take the time to figure out what was causing the symptoms. They would jot down a prescription for drugs and tell them to go home.

Dr. Kalitenko discovered the benefits of holistic treatment as a result of his own unexpected health crisis. One day, in his 40s and working two jobs, he began to feel shortness of breath, chest pain, and other significant symptoms. The diagnosis wasn’t good: heart trouble. Traditional medicine only addressed the symptoms, not the root of his problems. It was like opening a window in a smoky room to allow the smoke out, but never investigating why the room was filling with smoke in the first place. He understood the dissatisfaction that many patients had with conventional medicine. He wanted more than anything to extinguish the flames, but the doctors weren't even looking for them! He was certain of one thing: drugs were not the solution. It became more and more frustrating until a friend introduced him to holistic, functional, and anti-aging medicine. Dr. Kalitenko started applying those concepts to his personal health care and soon experienced an impressive recovery.

Dr. Kalitenko started his own practice in 2001 while continuing to work at the hospital. As a result of his personal illness, he studied the principles of holistic, functional, and anti-aging medicine and successfully applied them to his practice. Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy plays a crucial role in his practice’s approach to management of aging and holistic health.

He is uncompromising about finding natural solutions to health issues. Through his expert diagnostic skills, he is able to uncover the root causes of health problems. He does everything possible to ensure that his patients avoid the traumatic experience he had as a heart patient dealing with traditional medicine.

Dr. Kalitenko's perspective is wellness, not illness. Since experiencing the benefits of holistic healing on his own, he has dedicated his life to helping his patients get their lives back. The following story is an example of how he goes about this process. 

K’S WAY: Exploring beneath THE surface

Dr. Kalitenko awoke at dawn, his thoughts on a new patient’s troubling case. She was a young single mother who had lately been struggling with insomnia, anxiety and depression with no clear cause. Her primary care physician, who could find nothing wrong, referred her to a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist proceeded to prescribe pills that didn’t help but only made her feel muddled and groggy.

During his morning routine – meditation and a breakfast of healthy, natural foods – Dr. Kalitenko reflected on the young woman’s plight. She was in desperate need of a course correction soon, or she could find herself in serious trouble. The traditional medical practitioners were out of solutions. If he could look beneath the surface of her symptoms, he might be able to see something the others had not.

At the office, Dr. Kalitenko pulled her medical records and recent lab results. Over the years, he had encountered other patients who had exhibited similar symptoms, and he thought about them now. Perhaps the other physicians had overlooked some critical information – or worse, perhaps they had seen it but dismissed it as irrelevant. She had a long medical file, and it took some time to review. Eventually he saw it. He quickly contacted her and asked her to come to the office – there was one more test he’d like her to take. When the results came back, the puzzle was solved. She had been suffering from chronic gut inflammation, which had resulted in a hormone and neurotransmitter imbalance that, in turn, resulted in the anxiety, fatigue and depression she was experiencing.

Traditional medicine had concluded the problem was all in her head, but it wasn’t – it was all in her gut! With the root cause identified, Dr. Kalitenko made a treatment plan to target the inflamed tissues. Her symptoms resolved quickly, and she had her normal life back.