Redefining Care: Your Partner in Health and Wellness

Dr. Merlyn Clarke, DNP, APRN-BC, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC, PMHNP-C
Dr. Merlyn Clarke, with a Doctor of Nursing Practice and multiple advanced practice certifications and licenses, brings a wealth of experience to her role in family medicine. With a nursing career spanning over four decades, Dr. Clarke has honed her skills in various specialties, including family medicine and psychiatry. She has had professional stints in Guyana, the UK, and the US. Currently, Dr. Clarke practices independently, both in person and online. She explains, “With my doctoral training, I am equipped to care for patients across the lifespan, from newborns to seniors. I can evaluate, diagnose, and manage most conditions encountered in the clinic or through telehealth services. For complex cases, I can facilitate referrals to physicians or specialists.” In 2010, Dr. Clarke relocated to the United States from London and began contributing to nursing education as an adjunct faculty member at the Mildred Elley School of Nursing in New York. She balanced teaching with a consultancy role at the Visiting Nursing Services of New York. She pursued her academic career by earning a master’s in Family Nurse Practitioner from The College of New Rochelle, a doctoral degree from Georgia State University, and a postdoctoral degree in psychiatric mental health. She also holds double board certification as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. Dr. Clarke’s clinical expertise extends to managing conditions such as anxiety, depression, drug addiction, alcohol abuse, ADHD, OCD, autism, erectile dysfunction, diabetes, hypertension, seizure disorders, birth control, chronic illnesses, urinary tract infections, sexually transmitted infections, and fertility treatment, among others. Driven by a deep commitment to family medicine, Dr. Clarke is equally passionate about educating patients on achieving and maintaining optimal health. She emphasizes the availability of specialized care through telemedicine and in-person consultations for Georgia, New York, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Delaware, Kentucky, Connecticut, Oklahoma, and Florida residents. Compassion, mentorship, and a desire to positively impact people’s lives drove Dr. Clarke’s journey into family medicine. Her dedication to teaching patients about maintaining optimal health reflects her passion for mental health and family medicine and her belief in accessible care for all, whether in person or through telemedicine.

Dr. Daniel Olivero, whose family is from the Dominican Republic, grew up in a South Bronx housing project. It was a place where parents’ aspirations for their children were basic—stay alive and don’t join a gang. He has, by all measures, wildly surpassed those modest expectations.

“After undergrad, I worked for four years in a very comfortable, but very boring, office job,” Dr. Olivero explained, “I was bored and wanted an intellectual challenge, so I decided to go to med school in the Dominican Republic.” This decision brought him a welcome challenge and ignited his lifelong passion. Dedicated to the health and wellness of infants and children, Dr. Olivero is a board-certified pediatrician and has served on the Board of Directors of the Lewisburg Children’s Museum as chair of health education. Dr. Olivero is dually board certified in addiction medicine and is the only pediatric expert recognized as a specialist in addiction medicine in the service area. He treats all pediatric age groups, from early newborns suffering from Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome to adolescents 21 years of age.

Early in his career, a colleague and pediatrician recommended locums work to him. Locum doctors help with staffing shortages caused by vacations, vacancies, and seasonal outbreaks.  Dr. Olivero says of his initial foray into this field, “I enjoyed my first assignment and decided to continue.”

What Dr. Olivero has observed as a physician who has worked in many different settings is the varied manner in which electronic medical records (EMRs) are compiled. He notes,  “No one EMR does everything perfectly because, as I learned, they are developed by computer professionals, not health care professionals and therefore do not understand why (or how) EMRs ought to work in a way that makes the workflow efficient and complies with government requirements.  Sometimes, it’s just easier to invest the time in learning a new skill (software development) and create a custom solution yourself, from scratch.”

It is the kind of “can do” response one would expect to hear from a physician who seems to be always coming up with new ways to connect with his Patients.

It’s a habit he developed as early as when he was a third-year pediatric resident working at Lincoln Hospital, the same hospital where he was born. At that time, he was participating in the Family Health Challenge, an 8-week program created by the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR) conducting weekly nutrition and fitness lessons at PS 18, a school in the least healthy county in New York State and the same school he attended as a child.

At the time, Dr. Olivero was featured in an article on the CIR website to promote the Family Health Challenge. It was clear that he benefited from his 8-week experience as much as the children he instructed.  “It was incredible,” he enthused. “During my first visit to PS 18 we had the kids break up into small groups and I led the group that my son was in. We started talking about nutrition and out of nowhere my son turned to me and said, ‘Dad, I want to be strong just like you when I grow up.’”

Today, Dr. Olivero reaches out to children to promote positive life choices any way he can. He authored a children’s book, “Toes, Knees, Shoulders, Head, When I’m Done, I Go to Bed” on healthy sleep habits for children that incorporates the five R’s of early childhood brain development (Read, Rhyme, Routines, Reward, and Relationship). The book, which is available in both Spanish and English, is featured in this issue of Hispanic Outlook.

Today he offers this bit of advice to his colleagues and freshly minted physicians: “Don’t complain about the flaws of the system; move forward and find a way to contribute to its improvement.”