Dr. Pouya Shafipour is a board-certified family medicine specialist with subspecialty training in the field of obesity medicine. He incorporates safe and effective medications in conjunction with dietary, nutritional, behavioral, and exercise counseling to help patients improve their health, with a focus on managing excessive weight gain or loss.

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Through extensive training by the American Society of Bariatric Physicians and the prestigious Harvard Blackburn Obesity Course, Dr. Shafipour has developed a program that focuses on healthy weight loss and a well-organized maintenance program. His program results in weight loss and maintenance of a healthy weight through a multi-level, personalized approach to dietary and lifestyle transformation.

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Dr. Shafipour received his bachelor’s degree in molecular and cell biology from UC Berkeley, a master’s degree in physiology and biophysics from Georgetown University, and his MD from Loma Linda University School of Medicine. In addition, Dr. Shafipour completed his internship in general surgery at UC Irvine and residency in family medicine at UCLA.

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As a primary care doctor, Dr. Shafipour has a particular interest in treating hormonal imbalances and treating people with thyroid issues like hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) and Hashimoto's disease (autoimmune disorder). His practice is holistic and personalized, focused incorporating a sustainable, healthy lifestyle into his practice of medicine.

Why I am passionate about treating patients with hypothyroidism:

Over the course of my career, I have seen that hypothyroidism and associated side effects are extremely common. But as physicians, we are merely trained to look at TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) and treat the abnormal lab levels rather than look at the whole person. Patients experience common symptoms like fatigue, weight gain, depressed mood, and various gastrointestinal symptoms. Interestingly, a fair percentage of my hypothyroid patients do not feel more energetic when prescribed thyroid replacement hormone. This makes them seek complementary therapies such as supplements, naturopathic, homeopathic, and chiropractic regimens, many of which help improve their symptoms of hypothyroidism. Seeing this happen more and more often, especially in my overweight patients, I have a great passion for treating and educating these patients. I have educated myself further in the field of thyroid issues to provide the most comprehensive care possible.

My approach to treating patients with hypothyroidism is:

My approach to hypothyroidism is not only to look at blood levels, but also at the metabolic picture, the whole person, dietary habits, sleep habits, exercise and the patient’s overall mental and physical health. I recommend a regimen that includes lifestyle transformations to address the overall health and not just the TSH, which can be influenced by many things. This often includes the utilization of dietary and behavioral modification, physical activity along with thyroid hormone replacement and supplements.