Meet Dr. Cascya Charlot, M.D.

Experience

Cascya Charlot, MD, is board-certified in internal medicine and allergy and immunology. The founder and medical director of Allergy & Asthma Care of Brooklyn, Dr. Charlot’s focus on pediatric allergy and asthma initiatives is inspired by her passion for patient and community education.

Dr. Charlot graduated from New York University at age 19 with degrees in romance languages and organic chemistry. One of NYU’s youngest graduates, she recognized a need for a little life experience and so took a gap year to work with the non-government organization Minority Rights Group before starting her medical degree at Harvard University. She then traveled with Africa with Unicef, working to improve conditions around mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

There, Dr. Charlot witnessed firsthand how stigma and misinformation spur transmission rates.

“The conversation around HIV was taboo—communities were ignoring and not addressing homosexuality—or sexuality, period,” she remembers. “It showed me the importance of educating community leaders about the facts of medicine. Because when people don't have the correct information, it's impossible to put the right protocols and guidelines in place to get the best outcome.”

Professionally, the experience would lead her to become a medical consultant to the United Nations, advising on HIV/AIDs conditions in Africa. She would later be awarded a Certificate of Excellence by the New York City Department of Health for her work on welfare reform.

Today, Dr. Charlot’s passion for quality healthcare access centers on the families she works with in Brooklyn, New York—those who often navigate expensive, inadequate medical coverage.

“I recently had a conversation with the mother of a pediatric patient. Their child needed a procedure, but their health plan had restrictions on the amount of testing that can be done,” Dr. Charlot shares. “We made the call that we were going to the procedure—because it's the right thing to do. But I shouldn't be in this position of having to navigate this difficult conversation with patients, and a mom shouldn't be in this position of having to make that kind of call. Access to quality healthcare is something that all Americans deserve.”

We’re thankful to have Dr. Charlot on our team of medical advisors so that we can continue to make quality online healthcare more affordable and accessible for all. Under her advisement, our clinical team has created user-friendly asthma and allergy consultation flows that guide each patient to the best treatment options available—whether they pay our $15 consultation fee or have their fee waived through our No-Cost Care program.

CURRENT MOTIVATION

“What really gets me out of bed is my patients. It's such a cliche. But this morning, I got a message from one of my patients who said, ‘You made my day yesterday.’ Despite the issues with healthcare, and constantly battling insurance for reimbursements and deductibles and all of that, this is the thing that makes me feel like I'm making a difference. I have a direct impact on an individual's quality of life—that is such a privilege. Providing quality care and knowing my patients are impacted by my interactions with them makes my job a lot easier. It makes all the difference.”

WORDS OF WISDOM

“Life is busy. There's a lot going on. It's important for me to remind parents that, at the end of the day, in order for them to be effective at work and effective as parents, they've got to take care of themselves. And so I remind them that taking care of their health will make them a happier, healthier, and more productive individual.

“Because especially nowadays, we're all caught up in, I've got to do this, I’ve got work, I've got the stresses of school—fill in the blank. But despite all of this, we must stop and take care of ourselves. Because if we don't, then we really can't be productive, effective, influential individuals.”

HEALTH IS A JOURNEY

“I wake up at 6 in the morning. I get up. I have my spiritual moment, where I pray. I do a workout. I take my time. I have breakfast before my team, my household, gets up at 7 o'clock. I have that hour, and that's my protected hour for me—my me time.

“That’s really important to me. It helps me to connect with myself, to make sure that I'm doing that internal check, to make sure that I'm okay. It helps me get ready to jump into the day. It has made a profound impact on my overall well-being. It's my protected hour that I will not compromise in any way.”

GIVING CARE = GIVING SELF-CARE

“A massage is my favorite form of self-care. My husband says I should have a massage every day, and I told him he needs to do it—because that's free labor! I try to do it at least once a month, and I could be better at it, so that's something that I'm working towards doing. But I'm doing it this weekend, so I'm excited!”