Italians in America – Our Immigrant Stories: After trauma medicine experience around the world, family practice is now her calling

By Tanya Tecce

Former fighter squadron surgeon Michelle Parsons’ mama, Amanda Marconi, was born in Bologna, Italy. When Amanda was a young girl her family moved to Argentina, then as a young adult Amanda moved to America to attend college in Houston, Texas. There she met her husband Eugene, also an immigrant from Germany, who was working at NASA.

Left to right: Michelle’s mother Amanda Marconi, her grandmother Florencia Sarmiento, aunts Olga and Hilda, Argentina 1948 (missing: grandfather Carmelo Marconi)

Michelle was born there in Houston, and she and her younger brother Michael moved around with their parents a lot when her father contracted with the military before they landed in South Jersey.

Michelle graduated from Jefferson Medical College, then joined the Air Force to continue her residency in trauma medicine. She is one of the first women assigned to a fighter squadron as a flight surgeon.

“I set up medical clinics wherever necessary, in countries all around the world, in case any of my service members got injured. I also often worked with the wives and their families.”

She served during the Bosnia/Herzegovina war, and was stationed at the Aviano Air Base in Italy. She also served in Kuwait and saw combat.

Dr. Michelle Parsons in her practice home office, Delaware, 2025

“When I had my son I decided to open my own family practice in integrative medicine,” which means carefully evaluating the root of conditions, and how all the bodily systems work together, not just the symptoms. “My focus is on health and wellness and the body’s natural inclination to get back into balance.”

As the founder of medicine, Hippocrates, reminds us, a key thing to consider is to “let food be thy medicine.”

“With my Italian mother everything was homemade and healthy,” Michelle said. “We had no junk food or cereals, which irritated me at the time. Mom was also very into home remedies, she took us to the doctor as last resort. My mother’s intuition is very strong and she really relies on it. I spent a lot of my life thinking that was crazy, but it feels like it’s coming full circle.

“We are very blessed to have my mother and her incredible Italian cooking. Sauce took two days to make, minimum! Sure it was a bit difficult when she sent me to school every single day with a home-cooked meal of salmon with spinach or herring fish that smelled funny, and other unusual whole, healthy foods, while the other kids were eating peanut butter jelly sandwiches. But I appreciate it now!

On assignment inside her F-16 Fighter Jet, Tucson, Arizona, 1995

“Plus I’m a surprisingly good cook myself because of that. I can make a homemade fettuccine alfredo quickly, and better than anything you’ll get in a restaurant.”

She’s also the proud mom to son Benjamin, with whom she recently attended Easter Mass while in Italy. “He is very traditional, and excited for his upcoming studies in theology and pre-med,” she said.

Michelle’s mom attended Mass every week, and fittingly, Easter and Christmas were very crowded at their home with a combination of both their Italian and German families.

“My dad’s family cherishes her. She’d make the seven fishes for them, some years she’d even do the 13 fishes as an extra special treat. Our generations stuck together, grandparents lived with parents, and grandparents took care of the kids. Both of my parents are patriotic and just love America so much, they are adamant that America is the best country in the world.“

With Mom and Dad speaking both Italian and German at home, she and her brother had to learn English as a third language.

When I ask Michelle when she knew she wanted to become a doctor, she recalls she was just 5 years old. “In South Jersey there were many Italian physicians and we had a family practice doctor (not a pediatrician). The waiting room was his living room. I remember being captivated by that, and the jars of cotton balls and tongue depressors. I knew then, I wanted to be a doctor too, and I wanted the practice to feel like home.”

Today, she is the Italian-American family doctor she admired so much growing up. She works with generations, seeing the grandmother, the mother and the child. She sees men and women, she knows the entire family. She interacts with them in her community, holds fundraisers, writes letters of recommendation for them. “I have patients I met when they were 5 years old, going to medical or nursing school now.

“When other physicians refer patients that originally scoffed at my integrative approach see results, they’re amazed. When a teenager suffering with anxiety and in and out of hospitals turned out to have MTHFR [a gene mutation that can impact health conditions], is now off medications, thriving and going to school, they say they don’t know what I do, but they know it works. Being experienced, I see patterns and know which questions to ask, which labs to run (adrenal gland function, full thyroid and iodine panels, vitamin levels, hormones) to determine how we can help. Everything is related. We are going to get the clues we need and a comprehensive look to get a great treatment plan.”

When I tell her that as an Italian-American I had anxiety and the MTHFR gene mutation, she exclaims “Oh! We have an MTHFR clinic where we treat with methylated B12 and vitamin infusions!” For me, it’s a relief to hear a physician speak like this, bringing the best of old world and new together.

“My medical practice is homey. And of course there are the jars of cotton balls and tongue depressors,” she says.

A little Italian-American girl’s dream come true.

Dr. Parsons’ practice is based in the Rehoboth Beach, Del., area where she holistically and wholeheartedly serves her 5,000-plus patients and community. She’s been practicing medicine for over 30 years.