If you’ve been part of the Minneapolis Integrative Medicine Center circle for a while, you know that we aim to be experts in integrative medicine. We use the best of both conventional and holistic medicine because we know together, they produce the best outcomes. That’s why we’re so excited to announce that we’re adding a new practitioner to our team.

Another reason? Functional medicine is growing here in the Twin Cities, and truly integrative practitioners are hard to find. We’ve expanded so much at MIMC that we need another set of (capable, trustworthy) hands to help support more patients! Our primary care model is catching on!

So, we’ve found a unicorn to help us. Jenikka Tomashek, DNP, APRN, CNP, has just joined our team (!). Nursing, which Jenikka’s experience is grounded in, is founded on compassionate, dedicated patient care that also cares deeply about the individual and their story. It’s one of the reasons we trust her so much to seamlessly become part of your health journey.

Meet Jenikka

Jenikka is originally from Cloquet in northern MN and moved to Minneapolis after she completed her master’s degree in Nursing (APRN) at The College of St. Scholastica. She went from small-town nursing to inner-city emergency medicine, which gives her a broad perspective on patient care. After four years in the ED, she made the switch to Internal Medicine where she has now been practicing for five years. During that switch, she also completed a doctorate degree from the University of Minnesota, making her a Doctor of Nursing Practice. Let’s dive a little deeper into why she’s a great addition to the Minneapolis Integrative Medicine Center team. 

In your work as a Certified Nurse Practitioner, you’ve focused on holistic medicine. What drew you to that type of care and why is it important to you?

After my 10 years as a Nurse Practitioner, I have experienced many patients who have not healed with conventional treatments. I knew there was more, so I started searching for other options and found functional medicine. To see how patients can heal with natural remedies and simplicity is encouraging. It was important to me to find a way to truly serve my patients.

What entices you about MIMC?

I love the fact that MIMC is a nice mix between conventional and functional medicine. The patient comes first and we will meet you where you are at. 

How are you (a Nurse Practitioner) and Dr. Cassie (a Naturopathic Doctor) similar? Different?

We come from different backgrounds but are grounded in the same philosophy of finding and treating the root cause, educating our patients, and focusing on the prevention of future disease.

Care between us should look seamless, as we both take a holistic, functional approach to medicine. The biggest difference is that I worked in a hospital setting as an internal medicine Nurse Practitioner, which gives me insight into diagnosing and treating more uncommon and unique symptoms.

A note from Dr. Cassie: Jenikka is a diagnostic magician—she understands disease process really well, and that gives her a leg up to be able to apply functional medicine principals to her knowledge base. 

How does a Nurse Practitioner support what MIMC can do for patients?

From Dr. Cassie: A big concern we run into with patients is conventional doctors who never take the time to look at the root cause of their symptoms. This can result in overprescribing, with patients taking more medications than really necessary. With a Nurse Practitioner on the team, MIMC can now help patients safely and effectively reduce the number of medications they’re on while finding the root cause of their symptoms, and using the best of holistic medicine to treat it.  

Collaboration is key at MIMC—it’s one of the biggest perks of membership that our entire team here works together to treat our patients. We bounce ideas off each other as well as pull information and treatment options from both of our backgrounds to do what’s best for the person in front of us!

What specialties are you excited about working on with MIMC clients?

I’ll see similar patents to Dr. Cassie and I really like gastrointestinal issues. I’m fascinated by how the gut, microbiome, and inflammation can affect many different issues from hormonal to pain conditions.

I’m excited to do some dermatology work as well—from rashes and psoriasis to eczema, come see me for help with skin issues!

If you could recommend one thing EVERYONE should be doing, what would it be?

Eat more plants! Veggies are so nutritious and delicious. 

Coffee or tea (or something else)?

Being 100% Finnish and considering Finnish people consume more coffee per capita than any nation in the world, I have to go with coffee.

Anything we missed that you want to share/be sure patients know about you?

I love to travel and experience new cultures. I have traveled to 15 countries and I studied abroad in Venezuela during college. 

Interested in working with Jenikka at MIMC? Give us a call (952-222-7670) or email us to schedule your first appointment today! 

Dr. Cassie Wilder

Dr. Cassie Wilder is a registered Naturopathic Medical Doctor (NMD) and founder of MIMC. Her passion is empowering her patients through education, understanding, and support through their healing journey. After graduating from Iowa State University with a Bachelors of Science in Kinesiology and Health, Dr. Wilder earned her Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine from Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine & Health Sciences, a fully accredited and nationally recognized institution in Phoenix, AZ. During her clinical training, she received extensive hands-on training with many leading experts in the field of functional medicine and developed a passion for treating hormonal imbalances, thyroid disorders, cardiovascular concerns, and adrenal fatigue.