Dr. M. Fusella

Episode 31 - Starting DPC With One Patient: How Dr. Marissa Fusella Is Finding Patients For Fusella Family Medicine

DPC| Primary Care| DPC Podcast
March 25, 2026•2 min read

If you feel like you spend more time checking boxes than caring for the human in front of you, this conversation will hit home.In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Marissa Fusella, a family medicine physician in Latham, New York, who’s in the early days of launching her Direct Primary Care practice, Fusella Family Medicine. After eight years in employed medicine, she felt the growing tension between loving her patients and feeling trapped in a system that doesn’t.

We talk candidly about what it’s like to leave a “stable” job, start a DPC with just one enrolled patient, and keep going when growth is slower than the Instagram highlight reels. Marissa shares how community, courage, and lots of imperfect action are shaping her path back to patient-centered care.

Who This Is For

  • Physicians buried in paperwork who want to practice real, relational medicine again

  • DPC‑curious doctors who want the unfiltered version of what the early months look like

  • New DPC owners who need reassurance that slow, steady growth is normal

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

  • Why you should start before you feel fully ready

  • How “done is better than perfect” looks in a real DPC launch

  • Why community may be the most important growth strategy you have

  • How simple meet‑and‑greets can educate a community and attract the right patients

  • Why building slowly does not mean you’re building wrong

If this episode encourages you, share it with a physician who might be quietly questioning their current path. It might be the permission they need to take their next step.

Channel Resources

🌐 Website: https://fusellafamilymedicine.com/

📘 Facebook: Fusella Family Medicine

📸 Instagram: Fusella Family Medicine

And if you're exploring your own DPC launch, don’t forget to check out the Breakeven Calculator for New DPC Practices to help you gain clarity and confidence around your numbers before you leap.

Breakeven Calculator for New DPC Practices: https://dpc-health-check.lovable.app/

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Dr. Gonzalez was born in NYC, but grew up in Virginia. She graduated from the University of Virginia and Eastern Virginia Medical School before completing her Family Medicine residency and Geriatrics Fellowship in 2002 at USC in Columbia, SC. She worked in Morganton, NC for 5 years at Burke Primary Care. After that, she headed the Primary Care Department at A Woman's View for 13 years and taught part time at the Geriatrics Fellowship in Morganton. She appreciates the privilege of working with her patients to improve their health, independence, and quality of life. She is Board Certified in Family Medicine and has a Certificate of Added Qualification in Geriatrics.

Anne Gonzalez

Dr. Gonzalez was born in NYC, but grew up in Virginia. She graduated from the University of Virginia and Eastern Virginia Medical School before completing her Family Medicine residency and Geriatrics Fellowship in 2002 at USC in Columbia, SC. She worked in Morganton, NC for 5 years at Burke Primary Care. After that, she headed the Primary Care Department at A Woman's View for 13 years and taught part time at the Geriatrics Fellowship in Morganton. She appreciates the privilege of working with her patients to improve their health, independence, and quality of life. She is Board Certified in Family Medicine and has a Certificate of Added Qualification in Geriatrics.

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