Student Spotlight: Cori Durall

Earlier this year, we announced our Community Impact Scholarship recipients, individuals whose dedication to improving health and wellness in their communities inspires us all. Thanks to our partnership with the Institute for Functional Medicine and a generous grant from VoLo Foundation, we’re proud to provide full-tuition scholarships for our March 2025 Class. Today, we are excited to spotlight Community Impact Scholarship recipient and future health coach, Cori Durall.

Cori’s journey into health coaching stems from over two decades of experience in the pharmacy industry and her growing concern about what she sees as a gap in the healthcare system. While serving her hometown of Salina, Kansas, at Key Rexall Pharmacy, Cori has become a trusted resource in a town where healthcare access is limited, and providers often face long wait times. Her role has allowed her to see firsthand how often healthcare focuses on survival rather than helping people truly thrive—a standard she believes should be accessible to everyone.

“I want to be able to kind of change what my role in the pharmacy is to be more available to people and have more impactful, inspire more impactful change for their journey.'”

Cori Durall, incoming FMCA student

Cori’s passion for addressing this gap is deeply personal. She’s observed how many people struggle to prioritize and implement the lifestyle changes needed to take control of their health. Guided by her belief that health is about much more than addressing symptoms, Cori was drawn to functional medicine and the opportunity to empower her patients with tools and knowledge to feel their best. She views health coaching as a natural extension of her pharmacy career and a means to foster meaningful conversations that focus on root-cause wellness.

In her daily work, Cori balances her professional responsibilities with a busy family life, including two wonderful children and a supportive husband. Her dedication to her community is evident in how she goes above and beyond to bridge healthcare gaps for Salina’s residents, ensuring they receive compassionate, personalized guidance. By pursuing her Functional Medicine Health Coach Certification, Cori aims to deepen her ability to inspire change and help others thrive amidst the challenges of a complex healthcare system.

We’re thrilled to welcome Cori to the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy. Her commitment to her community and vision for health and wellness make her a powerful force for change, and we can’t wait to see how she continues to create impact in Salina and beyond.

Watch the Interview

Watch Cori’s Student Spotlight interview with Dr. Sandi here.

About VoLo Foundation

VoLo Foundation is a private nonprofit organization with a mission “to accelerate change and global impact by supporting science-based climate solutions, enhancing education, and improving health” and a vision for a “planet where all beings are ensured access to a sustainable and clean environment, health services, and education.”

Transcript

Dr. Sandi: Can you begin by just sharing your story? What led you to want to become a functional medicine health coach?

Cori: Well, you know, when I went through pharmacy school, functional medicine was not something I had even heard of. And so, when I graduated, I went into the typical pharmacy pathways. I worked in the hospital first and I got in with this compounding pharmacy and really enjoyed the opportunity to be able to produce medicine that was more individualized rather than something that tries to put everybody in the same box because everybody’s journey is different and everybody’s needs are different. And I was able to see in that sort of realm that the traditional way of treating disease or treating a need for something is that we have all of these things and these are what we choose from rather than, there’s so many people that that just doesn’t work for, that they need something different.

And so, we did a lot of hormone therapy there. And from there, I kind of got into a little bit of the other functional medicine approaches to things. And I thought, “This seems like the way,” like, “We really should be finding out what’s wrong? What’s causing things to go wrong?” Rather than just, “Well, this will take care of the symptoms,” and then let people go about their lives on things. And so, I piqued my interest, but then life kind of happened. I had to move away from that job, which I really loved. And didn’t really have an opportunity to get back into it until things started going wrong with me. And just in a state of not feeling my best, going to the doctor to find out what’s wrong, everything’s normal. I’ve had all these tests, but I still don’t feel well. And there wasn’t a lot of people willing to really dig into that with me. So, I was kind of left with myself and trying to figure this out. And I thought, “We need more people that want to get to the bottom of problems and problem-solve with people,” because it is a time-intensive thing. And it’s a really get-to-know-people kind of thing to help them figure out just which way they need to go.

And so, I remember feeling alone and lost in that journey. And now, finding the right kind of people that I’m starting to feel well. I’ve started a health and wellness program and started feeling better. And found a functional medicine group of pharmacists, and I’m learning from them and taking part in that. And it’s just been…I’m just much happier with that type of approach rather than… What I’ve witnessed in pharmacy for the last 20 years or so is people’s prescription volume keeps tending to get bigger. And that just makes me sad because it’s not health. And I feel like we need to… I would rather help people not be on medicine as a pharmacist, which is kind of a funny thing. If you… You know, not many people are meeting pharmacists, like, “No, we don’t want you to be on that medicine. We’d rather figure out why it is you need it and help you reverse that.” So, I know it’s a lot of rambling, but…

Dr. Sandi: It was a beautiful story. And so many people come to FMCA because of their own health journey, because of their dissatisfaction with what the current health care system has to offer them. And I believe that pharmacists are really the frontline because for many people, especially in rural parts of the country, that their pharmacist is it for them, that is their provider. They see a pharmacist much more frequently than they would a doctor, a primary care doctor, and coaches plus pharmacists or a pharmacist coach is really the way to go. So, what attracted you about FMCA? What do you hope to get out of our training?

Cori: Well, I read kind of the program outline. I love… What I have struggled with, personally, if I can learn the science, I can apply it, where I tend to struggle is having the really encouraging and hard conversations with people that make them want to have the change. And I felt like your program was geared towards really helping with that part as well. Because if we can’t motivate people to do the change, then really nothing is going to happen, and until they decide that it’s a priority to them or can connect with part of them that they’re missing and seeing where they can gain if they put their health and their wellness as a priority in their life. I tend to be a people-pleaser by nature. And so, sometimes that means not always saying what they need to hear or being able to deliver it in a way that it can be impactful for them and not necessarily offensive or, you know, where they become defensive to the statements, that kind of thing. And so, I was really looking for something that could, you know, show me the outline, but also teach me how to deliver the encouraging, you know, steps towards one’s optimized health.

Dr. Sandi: And that is exactly what we do here. And that’s because of the remarkably effective discipline called positive psychology, where you focus on what’s strong with people and not what’s wrong with them and help them to see that they have the strength, they have the resiliency, they have what it takes to take those steps to really take charge of their health. And time after time, studies have shown what is the key factor that makes health coaching so, so successful. And it has to do with this concept of self-efficacy, empowerment, where you feel like, “Yeah,” like, “I am in charge of my destiny. I can be my own advocate. I can take these steps towards health.” So, it’s a remarkable process, as you will see. People get this, “aha” moment where they make that decision that they want to change and that they can change.

What would be your dream for the future? So, one thing that struck me when I first got to know you through your scholarship application was that you found that there were no health coaches or there are no functional medicine, that this is an area that is badly in need of services where you are. So, can you describe your community and how you want to use your health coach training?

Cori: Yeah. I mean, we’re kind of one of the smaller, bigger cities in the state. So, as far as…

Dr. Sandi: And that’s Kansas.

Cori: Yes. There’s Wichita, Topeka, Lawrence, Kansas City, and then Salinas kind of in the middle of the state, and then East…or not East, West and North is just all rural from there. So, there are in the bigger communities, functional medicine providers, but there really is not any functional medicine direction being given in our community or not much into those rural communities. And since there are rural communities through the West and North of us, a lot of people do come to Salina for their health care or they count on being able to go there instead of the bigger cities that they can help it. So, we, even at the pharmacy, are serving communities 20 and 30 miles away. So, it’s a real opportunity to help people, not just in my community, but in the surrounding communities, and be that frontline for them.

You know, like you said, with pharmacists being so accessible day to day, a lot of times people are just walking in and they want to have a conversation with me because they can. I’m not behind, you know, you don’t have to get through three people to talk to me. So, it can offer challenges for sure, but I like my position in being accessible. So, I want to be able to use that time when we can have these short conversations, but I want them to be meaningful conversations that make impact and not a rushed conversation. It’s like, “Okay, I got to get back to something else. You got to go.” So, I want to be able to kind of change what my role in the pharmacy is to be more available to people and have more impactful, inspire more impactful change for their journey.

And then I used to kind of, “How would I use it in my application?” I sort of let this vision or dream that’s been in my head a long time that I kind of kept to myself… It’s like, “I wish we could change sort of the face of this.” It’s not my business. I work for somebody, but I keep… I’ve told him for years. I was like, “We need to be, like, all inclusive health and wellness place.” Like, “We need to change a little bit about what our image is from that typical pharmacy image to…” You know, we would need a lot more space than what we have right now, but we could be the place you go to for your protein shake or your smoothie, or you go to get your health food or your health supplements. And maybe we have some sort of fitness or something going on. Like, all these things in one space is kind of been in my head. I don’t know how to implement it. And that’s what I’m really hoping this program will help me, put my visions and my dreams into motion and make it happen rather than just staying in my head and wishing it would change. So…

Dr. Sandi: What a beautiful vision. And as you were speaking, I could picture that, that the center that is a whole health center that has, food is medicine and exercise is medicine and medicine. Because there are some conditions where medication is absolutely needed, where it’s a life-or-death situation. But that people see just the wide range of contributors to whole health. And how empowering that is where you could have classes, you can have group consultations, you can have online visits as well. But you can have this as an alternative to what we think of. And there are so many burnt-out pharmacists that I’ve spoken to that, you know, they want to be more than just filling the bottles with, you know, the…or being in charge of that process or talking to people and just answering questions like, “How many times a day should I take this, and should I take it on an empty stomach or not? So, the real conversations that matter, that are deep, and that’s what coaches are trained to do to have those conversations.

And we have many in our community who have similar visions, where they have already created or in the process of creating those kinds of… In their part, it’s the community, because as we know, the community can be the medicine, and just a gathering place for people can be really so impactful in helping people’s health, as well as reducing healthcare costs. So…

Cori: I would love that.

Dr. Sandi: …I am so excited to help you take that vision and make it a reality as you learn from our faculty, as you become a part of our functional medicine coaching community when you enter as a student as well as going on to support you when you are a graduate through our alumni program. So, it’s been said that when you come to functional medicine, whether that’s as a practitioner or as a coach or wherever you are in your journey, that this is a life community. And so, we want to welcome you to that community.

Cori: I’m so happy to be here.

Dr. Sandi: Well, I can’t wait for you to start in the next class. And I will have my office hours available for you. We have group office hours for students and graduates. And to, again, just support you as you become a functional medicine health coach, which this unique background of blending your pharmacy background with now functional medicine coaching.

Cori: Yes, I’m so happy. I’m very excited. My head has just been, like, exploding with all these, “I could do this. I could do that,” kind of thing. So, I’ve learned to start writing them down because…

Dr. Sandi: That’s a good idea, yeah.

Cori: Then I can reflect on them better.

Dr. Sandi: Oh, we love it. Yes. Well, thank you so much, Cori, for being with me today. It’s been just a pleasure to get to know you. And congratulations one more time on being one of our scholarship recipients.

Cori: Thank you so much.