Marybeth Missenda

Ms. Missenda is an assistant professor and program director of the Integrative Health Studies department at Maryland University of Integrative Health(MUIH). She has more than 25 years of experience as a health systems pharmacist and got her master's in Nutrition and a certificate in herbal medicine from MUIH in 2014.

In addition to over 25 years working in hospital pharmacy, Ms. Missenda was the Director of Pharmacy for Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, in Deschapelle Haiti from 1992-1995 and consulted for the Pan American Health Organization for the Essential Drug Program in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and on the island of Montserrat during their volcanic crisis. Her diverse background provided a passion for promoting interprofessional collaboration in healthcare and a focus on bringing together diverse perspectives from traditional medicine and conventional medicine into her teaching and research initiatives. She currently serves on the MUIH Institutional Review Board and is a co-chair of the research and education committee for Integrative Medicine for the Underserved (IM4US).

Ms. Missenda has a small practice where she collaborates with an herbalist and acupuncturist in collaboratively supporting the health and wellbeing of clients who are currently on pharmaceutical medications and are looking to add complementary health approaches. She provides comprehensive Medication Therapy Reviews that include herbal and dietary supplements.

Marybeth’s research interest and scholarly focus are on the intersection between different healthcare paradigms honoring the cultural traditions that expand our understanding of health and wellness while exploring whole-system’s research to provide an evidence-informed foundation for her clinical practice. Her work also focuses on how practitioners most effectively can work together to support the health and wellbeing of patients.

Her teaching philosophy is rooted in the belief in supporting each student's development of a growth mindset. For her, this means that we are all whole and complete exactly as we are AND there is always room for transformation. Each student brings experience and perspective to the course material which contributes to the learning for all through the sharing of ideas. She sees this exchange of ideas as the seeds of creative solutions for the challenges of our current healthcare system.