Melissa Black, MD

Melissa Black is a family medicine physician at Empower Family Medicine in Decatur, Georgia. She completed her family medicine residency at Atlanta Medical Center, formerly known as Georgia Baptist, in 2006, with pediatrics rotations at Children's Hospital of Atlanta's Scottish Rite campus. A geriatric medicine fellowship at Emory University followed in 2007, and she went on to spend nine years there as an assistant professor in Emory's Division of Internal and Geriatric Medicine.

During her obstetrics training and her own pregnancies, Dr. Lorne Campbell mentored her in the use of hypnosis in childbirth, which sparked a lasting interest in neuroscience and how the brain shapes health. Turning 40 in 2015 left her wanting a slower pace and more unhurried time with patients, so she opened a practice built around the doctor-patient relationship rather than insurance paperwork.

Originally from Upstate New York, she moved to Decatur in 2013 to raise her children and settle into its walkable streets and strong schools.