Chelsea Carlson, MD (she/her)

Dr. Chelsea Carlson grew up in rural Michigan and traveled to the Pacific Northwest for her undergraduate studies in Chemistry and French. She became passionate about rural health delivery and understanding the interactions between gender, health and racism while studying abroad in Mali and working with the Mali Rural Water Project.

She shifted from a future in lab-based work to translational research at Northwestern University and then continued her medical school career there and was able to continue working with global health partners through the student organization NUAID. At Northwestern she was drawn to high-acuity, whole-person care, but it was rotating in her husband’s hometown of Sitka, Alaska that she fell in love with the breadth and depth of family medicine.

She is grateful for her rigorous training in inpatient medicine, critical care, emergency medicine and high-risk OB at Full Circle Health (formerly FMRI) and was based at Emerald clinic where she cared for a truly global community. Upon graduating she joined the faculty with a passion for training residents in inpatient family medicine and critical care. Learning with and supporting residents and medical students at this intense time of their training is her favorite part of the job. She and her husband, Justin, stay busy with three small kids, and can be found hiking in the Idaho wilderness (or enjoying a good playground swing), cooking from their backyard garden, and laughing at the kids’ latest antics.