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Karissa Merritt, DO


Dr. Karissa Merritt was born and raised in Saint Joseph, Missouri, where she knew that she was passionate about people and their care from a young age. She spent much of her undergraduate career at the University of Denver but graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She decided to pursue medicine at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, where she received her DO degree in 2018.

She is completing her third year as a Chief Resident at Cox Family Medicine Residency. She lives in Nixa, Missouri, with her husband, Seth, and their dopey but precious dog, Henry. Her other interests include fitness and exercise, adventuring in the Ozarks and across the world (as COVID allows), spending time with friends and family, and good food. 

Professionally, she is passionate about wellness, access to quality food as preventive health care, and addressing socioeconomic barriers to care. She is also particularly interested in mental health in primary care.

Over the past 18 months, she has developed a soon-to-be system-wide food insecurity screening initiative, which has opened the doors to much learning, relationship-building, and the development of new community resources.

Dr. Merritt discloses that she has no relevant financial relationships with any organization producing, marketing, reselling, or distributing health care goods or services consumed by, or used on, patients relative to the content of her presentation.