Family MedicineJustine DeCastro, MD
Charleston native, Justine DeCastro, M.D., is a family medicine physician with years of clinical experience from a variety of healthcare practice models. She believes a strong foundation with your primary care physician or provider should be at the center of your healthcare journey, regardless of whether you see them once a year or every month. “Our healthcare system is too complex to tackle it alone,” she states. Read more about a team based approach to healthcare from her recent article in Healthlinks Magazine.
Dr. DeCastro provides a comprehensive approach to medicine and strives to form long-lasting relationships with her patients. Her practice spans prevention, acute care & chronic disease management. Her practice model centers around one’s mental, physical and spiritual health. She follows her patients beyond her practice and focuses on having a strong healthcare team work in unison to stay up to date with your health in order to provide the best care possible.
As a primary care physician, she believes it’s vital to know the healthcare culture and landscape of where you practice. Dr. DeCastro has forged close ties with other physicians and specialists in the community and will take the time to communicate with them to coordinate your care.
Evidence based medicine provides the foundation for her practice philosophy. Her personal scope of practice and interests include cardiovascular disease prevention and chronic disease management. She appreciates the benefits her patients receive from complimentary treatment options and will work alongside her patients to help make the best, most informed decisions regarding their overall health and wellness.
Dr. DeCastro is from Charleston by way of the Charleston Naval Shipyard where her father was stationed during the final years of his naval career. She received her bachelor’s degree in Biology, minor in Chemistry, magna cum laude from the University of South Carolina, Columbia. She completed medical school at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Columbia. She was awarded a Health Professions Scholarship with the United States Air Force (USAF) and served as a Captain and General Medical Officer at the 2nd Medical Group, Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport Louisiana. She returned to Charleston where she completed her Family Medicine residency at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). She is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
Dr. DeCastro’s primary clinical experience and passion lies in primary care. She also has experience in post-acute care, long term care and urgent care. She serves as president elect of the Charleston County Medical Society where she enjoys connecting with other physicians outside of practice to promote physician wellness, strengthen our local healthcare system, serve our community and mentor medical students and new physicians.
Her husband Dr. Alec DeCastro is the MUSC family medicine residency and sports medicine program director. You can catch the DeCastros cheering on the CofC Cougars, Battery, Riverdogs & Stingrays!