Dr Ana Tanase MD, Integrative Pediatrician in Tucson AZ
I became a doctor because I believe medicine is about relationships — not protocols.
When it came time to choose a career, I knew I wanted to work with people, not computers. And when I chose pediatrics, it wasn’t just because I love children — it was because I found a corner of medicine that still had room for compassion.
I completed my medical training in Romania, where scarce resources taught me something that well-equipped hospitals often miss: that more intervention is not always better. I watched unnecessary treatments cause harm. I saw doctors order tests and prescribe medications not because patients needed them, but because liability demanded it. That tension never left me.
After two decades practicing pediatrics in the US, I sought out additional training in integrative medicine, functional medicine, and care for children with special needs — because I knew conventional medicine, as it’s practiced today, wasn’t giving families everything they deserved. I tried for years to deliver that fuller, more thoughtful care inside the traditional system. But 15-minute appointments don’t leave room for real conversations. Insurance coverage shouldn’t determine what’s possible for your child. And no parent should ever leave a visit feeling like a number.
So I made a decision: to build something different. A practice where your family sets the pace. Where we can go as deep as you need — whether that means exploring root causes, weighing the real risks and benefits of a treatment, or simply having someone who will sit with your questions without judgment.
I’m also a mother of three. I know firsthand that parenting today is harder than it has ever been — not because we lack resources, but because we face decisions our own parents never had to make. The world our children are growing up in is more complex, and more overwhelming, than any previous generation. I understand the weight of that. And I want to be the doctor you can trust to help you carry it.
This practice exists for families who want a partner — not just a provider. You deserve care that sees your whole child, respects your instincts, and never stops asking what else might help.
Dr Ana Tanase MD, ABOIM
Board certified in Pediatrics and Integrative Medicine, Founder
After more than 20 years in corporate medicine, Dr. Ana Tanase realized it was time to move beyond disease management and return to what inspired her to become a physician in the first place: creating true health for children and families. This calling led her to establish her integrative pediatric direct primary care practice—a space where healing, connection, and individualized care can finally thrive.
Dr. Tanase began her medical career in Romania, where she earned her medical degree from Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest.
She completed her pediatric residency at The Children’s Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, New Jersey, and later pursued advanced training in integrative medicine. In 2019, she completed her fellowship with the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine (AIHM) and became board-certified in Integrative Medicine.
Her integrative training reshaped her approach to care. “Through my integrative medicine training, I have learned to hold space, give options and freedom of choice to my patients, and to look for solutions outside the box,” she explains.
Dr. Tanase is known for welcoming children with complex or chronic health challenges. She looks deeply for underlying root causes and works collaboratively with families to restore balance, resilience, and optimal wellness. Although she has worked in private practice, community health centers, and multispecialty clinics, she found these environments too rigid to support the kind of individualized, whole-child healing she feels children deserve.
A lifelong learner, Dr. Tanase continues to expand her knowledge through additional training with the Institute for Functional Medicine, the Medical Academy of Pediatric Special Needs (MAPS), the Institute of Integrative Psychiatry, and the Center for Mind-Body Medicine. Guided by the belief that “the more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know,” she remains committed to curiosity, humility, and ongoing discovery.
Dr. Tanase is also passionate about teaching. She has mentored and educated medical students, nurse practitioners, pediatric and internal medicine residents, and physicians pursuing integrative medicine training. She believes healing happens in community and has led mind-body skills groups and parent education classes rooted in connection and shared experience.
Fluent in English, Spanish, and Romanian, she embraces families from diverse backgrounds and meets them with respect, empathy, and openness. As a mother of three, she brings personal experience, deep compassion, and practical insight into the parenting journey. “My children have taught me many valuable lessons and continue to guide my journey through medicine, my personal life, and my purpose,” she shares.
When she’s not caring for patients, Dr. Tanase enjoys exploring health and wellness, spending time in nature, photography, gardening, traveling, and being with her family.