Dr. Merritt is a classically trained physician and obtained her medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. After graduation, she did her internship at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda Maryland in Internal Medicine and completed a residency in Orthopaedic Surgery at San Diego Naval Medical Center. She has spent additional years providing care to active duty marines in Iwakuni, Japan, and Quantico, Virginia. She was awarded the Louis A. Goldstein Fellowship in Spinal Surgery at Rochester String Memorial Hospital– the only female to have done so. Her life long interest has been in wellness and in 2006 she completed the American Academy of Anti-aging and Integrative Medicine fellowship.