Chhaya Makhija, M.D., DipABLM
Dr. Chhaya Makhija is a Triple Board-certified physician and specialist in:
Internal Medicine
Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism
Lifestyle Medicine
She has been practicing medicine for 15+ years, serving the last 8+ years in Fresno, CA. She is the founder of Unified Endocrine and Diabetes Care.
She is actively involved in training the next generation of clinical professionals as an:
Assistant Clinical Professor, University of California San Francisco, Fresno, CA
Adjunct Assistant Professor, College of Osteopathic Medicine, California Health Sciences University, Clovis CA
Her clinical interest and expertise are managing thyroid disorders and thyroid cancer. She focuses on preventing and optimizing Type 2 Diabetes, Diabetes-related complications, Metabolic syndrome, and Metabolic bone diseases, including Osteoporosis. Dr. Makhija holds board certifications in endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism, as well as internal and lifestyle medicine. She’s also certified in plant-based nutrition from eCornell University.
At her medical practice, Dr. Makhija offers her patients direct access via phone or email/text messages and provides one-on-one coaching tailored to their specific needs. Dr. Makhija worked at Sierra Endocrine Associates with Dr. Joseph Hawkins for 8+ years. Dr. Makhija is a premier specialist in the greater central valley area with offices conveniently located in Fresno, Clovis, Walnut Creek & Lafayette, CA.
My Story
My passion and quest for prevention of diseases was nurtured by an enriching educational and clinical experience over the years. As we are all aware, our current health care system has limitations on time and accessibility to experts for prevention of chronic diseases and associated complications. I decided to pursue creating an environment that simplifies complex scientific data and blends art of medicine to enhance patient care. The core of which includes investing quality time to establish a meaningful patient-physician relationship. I strive to continually share and cultivate an approach integrating evidence-based medicine and patient education required for a nutritious diet and mind, physical activity, yoga, behavioral changes to address their disease and become their own health care expert. The path to prevention is challenging but its benefits are long term. My goal is to help promote wellbeing of the individual and their family together as a team.
Education
Endocrinology fellowship: University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
Diabetes Research: Albert Einstein School of Medicine, Bronx, NY
Chief Resident and Internal Medicine Residency: Hackensack UMC Mountainside Hospital, Montclair, NJ
Medical School, Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery: B.J. Medical College, Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Pune, India
Publications
Chhaya Makhija, Yungpo Bernard Su, and Whitney Goldner; Department of Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolism, UNMC, Omaha, NE; Unusual case of papillary thyroid carcinoma with Choroid Metastasis; THYROID, April 2015
Chhaya Makhija, Vijay Shivaswamy, Meredith Ross, Andjela Drincic, Whitney Goldner; Department of Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolism, UNMC, Omaha, NE; Catecholamine Crisis Precipitated by Intra-Articular Glucocorticoid Administration in a Patient with Paraganglioma; AACE Clinical Case Reports: Autumn 2015, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. e265-e268.
About The Practice
Unified Endocrine is the first direct-care endocrinology practice in Central California and the first endocrine and lifestyle medicine direct specialty care in the State of California founded by Dr. Chhaya Makhija in 2021. Her passion and vision to provide excellent patient care and love for her patients led her to creating this platform. This model of care enables us to provide our patients with comprehensive, supportive care for their complex diabetes, hormonal, and metabolic conditions. It also enables us to help our patients navigate through the confusing health information on the internet.
We provide comprehensive diabetes, metabolic, and thyroid care. We provide medical weight loss, nutrition, and lifestyle coaching.
The goal of direct care endocrinology is to provide patients with more personalized and accessible care. We offer in person office visits in Fresno, California and telemedicine consultations anywhere in the state of California. We provide long appointments, no waiting room time and convenient scheduling.
For highly personalized specialty care that is consistently excellent and never rushed, call Unified Endocrine or email us now.
Edith Boldt, RN, NP, CDCES
Edith Saavedra Boldt has been a registered nurse for almost twenty-one years. She has been board certified as a diabetes care and education specialist since 2011 and a family nurse practitioner since 2013. Ms. Boldt has three years of experience as an endocrine nurse practitioner and has worked with Dr. Makhija in the past and contributed in community events for diabetes screening. She joined Unified Endocrine and Diabetes Care in May 2023.
She completed both her Bachelors and Master’s degrees in Nursing at California State University, Fresno.
Her passions include helping people reduce the risk of long term complications through better understanding of how to manage living with diabetes.
In her free time, favorite things to do include: travel, reading and spending time with family. Ms. Boldt also enjoys a variety of activities such as cycling, running, circuit/strength training and walking.
Risë Rafferty, MS, RDN
Risë is a registered dietitian who views nutrition as a powerful clinical tool in the prevention and treatment of disease. She inspires transformation by bringing her passion, understanding, and knowledge of how significantly diet and lifestyle impact health to each patient. With a Masters in functional medicine, she seeks to individualize medical nutrition therapy to the unique needs of her patients while seeking to address potential root causes of symptoms. Risë shares Dr. Makhija’s desire to provide “wholistic” care to patients. She has helped people turn their lives around by using food as medicine. She is a true foodie who enjoys talking about, eating, and growing food and is determined to deliver a holistic approach to health promotion.
EDUCATION:
Bachelor of Science (BS), Nutrition & Dietetics, June 2015, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA
Master of Science (MS), Functional Medicine, June 2020, University of Western States, Portland, OR