Dr. Gena Poling, ND, MPH, MSEd

She/Her

​Dr. Poling knows many factors impact our health – physical, mental-emotional, spiritual, and social. At Link Community Clinic, she seeks to help patients integrate these factors in understanding the cause of illness and discussing treatment approaches. Her goal is to help patients make informed decisions, balancing the best of both conventional and complementary medicine. As an educator at heart, she strives to provide clear, compassionate, evidence-based care to all patients. Dr. Poling believes deeply in the interconnectedness of our communities and is passionate about the pursuit of social justice. She loves providing primary care for patients of all ages — from babies to older adults — including mental health support, diabetes prevention and management, and vaccine administration and counseling.

Dr. Poling earned her Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine and Master’s in Public Health from Bastyr University and completed a competitive post-graduate residency program at the Bastyr Center for Natural Health. She has a Master’s in Education from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor’s in Biology from the University of Washington. Prior to becoming a naturopathic physician, Dr. Poling taught middle school in SeaTac, WA and Philadelphia, PA. She currently also works with Public Health–Seattle & King County and HealthPoint Clinics. She is proud to be a provider volunteer at Tacoma’s free urgent care clinic, The Neighborhood Clinic.

Dr. Poling supports vaccinations for all children. Her patients should anticipate that vaccinations will be discussed at all well-child examinations and vaccinations will be offered at all appointments to children who are due for vaccines. Dr. Poling promotes and follows the CDC’s (Center for Disease Control) Immunization schedule.

In her free time, Dr. Poling enjoys spending time with her family and friends (when not in a pandemic), being outdoors, and reading/listening to memoirs.