Dr. Melissa Fickey
"As the founder of Embracing Life Wellness Center, my vision was to have a practice that offers only high-quality mental health treatment in a caring and compassionate environment, setting the standard of what patients should expect from their mental health care provider. I am proud to say we have done just that at Embracing Life Wellness Center, while empowering our patients to embrace their lives to the fullest. Upon entering medical school at The University of South Florida College of Medicine, I took an oath that I hold dear to my heart. I am passionate about mental wellness and I will continue to strive on the path towards excellence, only offering the best mental health treatment for our patients and our community." - Melissa Fickey, MD
Melissa Fickey, MD
Dr. Fickey was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area. She completed her bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Chemistry from the University of South Florida. She later attended medical school at the University of South Florida, graduating with her medical degree. During her medical school training, she was awarded Outstanding Student in Consultation/Liaison Psychiatry and was also elected President of the American Medical Student Association.
Dr. Fickey finished her adult psychiatry residency at The University of Florida and then went on to further specialize in child psychiatry, completing the child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship program at the University of South Florida. Dr. Fickey has been in private practice since 2010 and founded The Embracing Life Wellness Center in 2014.
Dr. Fickey is recognized as a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. This fellowship is an honor appointed to distinguished psychiatrists to commemorate them for their substantial contributions and dedication to the psychiatric profession.
Dr. Fickey is a board-certified psychiatrist specializing in child, adolescent, and adult psychiatry. She is an active member of the American Psychiatric Association, Florida Psychiatric Society, American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, and Clinical TMS Society. Dr. Fickey also works as a forensic psychiatric consultant.
Dr. Fickey is a Diamond Provider for NeuroStar TMS.
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Child Psychiatry Fellowship 2007 – 2009, University of South Florida (USF) College of Medicine, Tampa, FL
Psychiatry Residency 2004 – 2007
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Doctorate of Medicine 2000 – 2004
USF College of Medicine, Tampa, FL
Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Natural Sciences for Chemistry 1997 – 1999
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology 1994-1997
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Hippocratic Oath
I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:
I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.
I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures which are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.
I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.
I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.
I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.
I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.
I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.
I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.
If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.