Mark Hancock, MD MPH, founded the Humanizing Medicine in Atlanta together with his wife Enid in 2015. The clinic is strongly rooted in the couple’s belief that everyone should have quality integrative healthcare options. Dr. Hancock has worked with Anthroposophic medicine, which originally introduced mistletoe as a therapeutic option for cancer 100 years ago, for his entire professional career.
Dr. Hancock’s journey through life has been full and varied, and has taken him through art, philosophy, science and even some farmwork before ultimately landing in medicine at Humanizing Medicine. Read about his journey below.
I’ve always loved being in the wilderness and pushing my endurance. The Appalachian Trail became pivotal to me as a teenager, and remains so even to this day. Through my experiences in the wilderness I learned early on of nature’s amazing potential to nurture the heart and soul.
During my first undergraduate experience I absorbed myself with the thinking process behind science and the assumptions therein. In 1999, I graduated from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee with a B.A. in Philosophy. I wrote my thesis on Immanuel Kant’s dualistic epistemology and how Rudolf Steiner’s Philosophy of Freedom overcame this duality and solved many issues inherent in it.
Upon graduating I left Tennessee and went to Europe. I worked for the summer on a biodynamic farm and then went to Switzerland where I studied painting at the neueKUNSTschule . I cannot emphasize how important this time painting was for me and my future development as a physician. I feel the absolute focus on receiving sense impressions in an awake, open, and scientific state of mind that occurs when painting a still life, portrait or landscape is also essential in medicine. It also related intrinsically to my earlier philosophical work.
My experiences in Europe formed a significant and solid base for further personal and professional development. As a young boy I’d felt a calling to go into medicine and these experiences inspired me to pursue that field once again.
I completed a second undergraduate course in 2002 at the University of the South with a B.S. in Biology, making the Dean’s List. Shortly after my wife,daughter and I embarked on a long medical journey together which took us first to Saint George’s University in Grenada, West Indies. I later completed my Masters in Public Health in 2003 Summa Cum Laude, and threw myself into medical studies. In 2008, I graduated Summa Cum Laude with my medical degree, and off we went to England for two years of clinical rotations.
During this time I had the fortunate opportunity to work with Dr Maurice Orange at the Park Atwood Clinic who was treating cancer patients with mistletoe therapy. I found him to be a brilliant and inspiring Anthroposophical physician who became a great source of inspiration to me.We traveled onwards to New Mexico where I completed my family medicine residency as chief resident in 2011.
I am board certified in Family Medicine and have worked extensively in hospital settings caring for patients. Serious illness that requires hospitalization is usually a life changing event for a person. I am honored to be the agent of that change.
In early 2015 I felt a need to bring the benefits of Anthroposophical medicine to more people. Since then I see patients at our office in Atlanta, as well as during occasional home visits. I am a member of PAAM Physicians’ Association for Anthroposophical Medicine and am working towards certification in Anthroposophical Medicine.
I have engaged in multiple speaking engagements and am always excited to share what a humanized medicine can offer.
I live in Decatur with my wife Enid, and our six daughters where we have a developing urban homestead with chickens, goats, a food forest and biodynamic-permaculture gardens.