Patient Tutorial 2021 - Sponsorship Opportunities

Allison Kendrick, MD

Compassionate Telemedicine

Allison Kendrick, MD, MA is board-certified in Internal Medicine.  She also has been certified as a cannabis specialist to work under the Compassionate Care guidelines for prescribing low dose THC.  She created Compassionate Telemedicine to provide an integrative approach to treating her patients by focusing on the addition of holistic care with medical marijuana to more traditional, pharmaceutical-based therapies.  Through the use of a virtual clinic, Dr. Kendrick is proud to serve a diverse community of qualified patients in Austin, Texas and beyond.  

Dr. Kendrick dedicated 15 years to formal education.  She graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University with departmental honors and distinction in Biopsychology.  She was also voted into the academic honor society, Phi Beta Kappa.  After graduation, she was accepted into the PhD program in Neuroscience at the University of California, Los Angeles,  one of the leading academic institutions in the field, where she studied neuroanatomy, electrophysiology, biostatistics, and biomedical laboratory techniques.  As her studies progressed to spending more time doing research, she realized that she missed working with people and having a direct impact on individual lives.  She returned to New York to earn her certificate in the post-baccalaureate premedical program at Columbia University.  From there, she was the only selected candidate from the Columbia program to be accepted into Brown Medical School, in a class of only 30 fellow students.   After graduating medical school, she returned to Texas to join the residency program at Baylor College of Medicine in the Houston Texas Medical Center.  During residency she gave birth to her son, and after completing her training in internal medicine, she moved to Austin to be nearer to her family.

As she gained experience as a practicing physician, she quickly became disenchanted with the time restrictions placed on her visits with her patients.  She was also frustrated with insurance restrictions on what medications and diagnostic tests she could prescribe.  Dr. Kendrick decided to create a platform of her own, where she could work with patients on her terms, taking time to form relationships with them.  She wanted to get back to the art of practicing medicine.

She created Compassionate Telemedicine to combine her knowledge of neuroscience, her training in traditional medicine, and her desire to combine holistic and western approaches to treating her patients.

Chase Bearden

Deputy Executive Director

Coalition of Texans with Disabilities

Chase received his BA in Business from Concordia University. In his advocacy role for CTD, Chase is called on for research, policy analysis and recommendations to the Texas Legislature and state agencies on issues surrounding disabilities. His service on advisory groups and boards includes appointments by Gov. Rick Perry to the Rehabilitation Council of Texas and the Texas Board of Architectural Examiners. More recently, Chase was reappointed to Texas Board of Architectural Examiners (TBAE) by Gov. Greg Abbott. He has successfully advocated for positive change in government policy and practice in employment, transportation, voting, education, health care and architectural barriers to promote the full inclusion of people with disabilities in community life. Chase has received the Legislative award from the Texas Rehabilitation Association, the President’s award from the Texas Physical Therapy Association and the Advocates award from the Down Syndrome Association. He has served as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer and worked for the St. David’s Medical Center running community programs focused on empowering youths and adults with disabilities through sports and recreation. Chase serves as Deputy Executive Director for Coalition of Texans with Disabilities. 

Boards and committees on which Chase serves include:

• Vice Chair: Medicaid Managed Care State Advisory Committee joined 2017, elected vice chair 2019
• Appointee by Governor: Texas Board of Architectural Examiners May 2009
• President: Parking Mobility Board of Directors joined March 2012, elected president January 2016

Darina A. Douchi, PharmD, MAJ(R)

PharmD, MAJ(R) and CEO of Curativo Hemp

Dr Darina A. Douchi, PharmD, MAJ(R) is an experienced medical legal consultant and CEO of Curativo Hemp with 17 years as a clinical pharmacist specializes in pain and psychiatric medicine. After years of working with the severely ill Warrior Wounded Soldiers and enduring her own struggle with chronic pain, she developed an interest in the science of medical cannabis and since then, she became an ambassador of Medical Cannabis for her patients. Dr. Douchi holds private educational sessions to educate the medical community on the benefits of Cannabis. Dr. Douchi is a proud U.S. Army retired Major who served honorably from 2009-2017.

Wendy Askew, MD

Dr. Wendy Askew is a board-certified Obstetrician/Gynecologist in private practice in San Antonio, Texas. She has also board-certified in Functional and Regenerative Medicine. She serves as Medical Director for Foundation for an Informed Texas.

She is on a mission to help patients achieve real health and wellness throughout their lives through the integration of holistic, regenerative, and conventional medicine therapies. Having personally experienced the healing effects of cannabis medicine on her own autoimmune disease has deepened her conviction that patients deserve broad access to this healing plant.

Dr. Askew is a proud veteran of the USAF where she served on Active Duty for over eleven years. During her nearly twenty-year career in medicine she has served on various hospital committees, trained residents in academic medicine programs, participated in medical missions, and built a thriving private practice. Dr. Askew hosts a vlog entitled The Whole Truth and is a contributing medical expert for many local and national publications.

She is married to Sam Sitterle, and has two beautiful daughters, Hannah and Sophie, and a handful of rescue pets. When she isn’t working, she enjoys exercise, travel, meditation, crime podcasts and personal & professional growth.