Learn more about Serenity and Health’s founder and the programs offered.
About Donna
Hello friends,
My preference would be to get to know each of you over a cup of tea or coffee. I know we share a lot—all trying to feel better, do better, and be better. But since we can’t meet today, I’ll start the relationship by introducing myself.
I’m Donna. My descriptors include Christian, wife, mother, grandmother, retired doctor, promoter of health of body, mind, and spirit, blogger, and—as of 2021— author.
I’ve always been curious and liked to learn. I did great in school. But I was more intellectually advanced and driven than I was mature or wise. This led me to marry and enter medical school when I was too young. I worked hard for years raising a family and practicing medicine, but I neglected God and didn’t understand how emotionally closed off I was. Difficulties in my marriage, family trials, and finally the illness and death of my first husband and father of my three children all combined to change me in dramatic ways that are still unfolding, so many years later. I’ve grown in my relationship with God and my understanding of myself—who I am, my values, and my path in life.
I am extraordinarily grateful for this abundant health, which to me means being fully alive from the inside out and recognizing that God is the source of this life.
Learning to finally trust God has been the key that led me to health of body, mind, and spirit. I am extraordinarily grateful for this abundant health, which to me means being fully alive from the inside out and recognizing that God is the source of this life. My book, Pilgrimage: A Doctor’s Healing Journey, tells of my path and offers ideas to readers about how they too can find more serenity, healthy, and closeness to God.
In my blog and other programs I offer, I am honored to share my experiences and thoughts of how we can care for our bodies and souls to bring healing to ourselves, and, in the process, to our hurting world. Whether I’m talking about Centering Prayer, walking, listening, or eating six servings of fruits and veggies each day, I always emphasize that each step we take helps our whole self because our bodies, minds, and spirits are a single interconnected being with God at the center. I certainly didn’t learn that in medical school!
It has been a joy to see folks embrace this message and then experience abundant health and a deeper relationship with God. Now I feel more like an evangelist with a healing message than I feel like a doctor.
These days you’ll find me living with my second husband in Maryland, outside of Washington, DC, where he and I are active in our nearby Catholic Church. I stay busy with my writing and work related to Serenity and Health, family and friends, reading, exercising, and gardening.
You are invited to email me anytime to comment, ask questions, or inquire about any programs.
God bless each of you,
Professional Summary
Oregon State University, 1967-1969
U. of California School of Medicine, MD degree, 1974
U. of Chicago, completed Radiation Oncology Residency, 1979
Practice of Radiation Oncology, mostly in St. Petersburg, FL until 1999
Family Medicine Residency, University of South FL, 2000-2003
Christ House, Washington DC, 2003-2010
Practice of Family Medicine, Washington, DC, until 2013
Launch of Serenity and Health, 2014
Launch of Serenity and Health website and blog, 2017
Published Pilgrimage: A Doctor’s Healing Journey (Luminare, 2021)
About Serenity and Health
Serenity and Health offers a blog, resources, and programs to help you find your own path to health, peace of mind, and God.
Serenity and Health was founded by Donna Chacko, M.D., following her decades-long experience practicing medicine. She was deeply affected by the suffering she saw, especially as she came to realize how much of this suffering was avoidable. It disturbed her to realize how much we all suffer unnecessarily because of our habits, lifestyles, thinking patterns, and negative emotions. After much prayer, reflection, and research, Dr. Chacko developed Serenity and Health to emphasize, first, how health of body, mind and spirit is interlinked and, second, how all of us can use that fact and our faith to improve our health and find peace of mind and closeness to God, all as a package deal.
She believes the potential benefits are far-reaching, not just to each of us, but also beyond to a hurting world.
Workshops, Programs, and Events
Serenity and Health offers continuing events, one-day workshops, and additional support to groups in the Washington, D.C., metro area. All programs are created and led by Donna Chacko, M.D., and provide a remarkable opportunity for those who wish to improve the health of their body, mind, and spirit.
Serenity and Health Blog
Dr. Chacko provides her blog with its regular feature of suggestions, which she hopes the readers will take very seriously. She emphasizes how learning about key areas of physiology, psychology, neuroscience, and medicine can help us as we travel on this journey to serenity, health, and God. She believes this background helps us understand how our conscious and unconscious minds, habits, and behaviors all interact in ways that can promote health and peace of mind or destroy it. Relevant topics include stress, resilience, meditation, prayer and particularly Centering Prayer, mindfulness and “God-centered mindfulness,” epidemiology of lifestyle-related disease, eating and exercise habits, the human condition and God’s mercy.
Pop—Up Conversations on Health of Mind, Body and Spirit
Serenity and Health’s founder Donna Chacko, MD, and special guests share information and inspiration to motivate you on your path to better health of mind, body and spirit.
In each episode of this limited video series, Donna sits down with authors, fitness experts, spiritual directors, and more who tell their stories of how their faith and health have intersected to profoundly impact their personal or professional lives.
Sharon Klees RN, Donna Chacko M.D., and Smokey Sue, a smoking doll used to demonstrate the hazards of smoking.
““I’ve applied the ideas shared and have already
seen improvements in the way I think and act.””