About Me

Welcome to my Web page! If you are considering coming to my department for treatment, I hope this helps you get a sense of who I am and how we might work together.

Biography

I was born in Chicago, but I've lived most of my life in California. My favorite rotations in medical school were obstetrics and psychiatry. When it came time to choose a specialty, my love of regular sleep hours won out over my love of delivering babies, and I have had no regrets since. Before coming to Kaiser Permanente, I had a private practice and was the medical director of a managed care company for three years. I was a member of the volunteer clinical faculty at UC San Diego's medical school for 18 years, and now I’m an instructor in Kaiser Permanente's brand new family medicine residency program.

About my practice

I see adult members at my office in Point Loma. I have a very hardworking nurse who helps manage phone communication with my members. You can also email my office through kp.org. I have several physician colleagues who cover for me when I'm not available, and I collaborate with about 20 therapists. Most of my members have relatively recent problems that have led to anxiety or sadness. I will often prescribe medicines for them, but I also review diet, exercise, stress management techniques, and general healthy living. Of course, some people require long-term treatment for illnesses that are not really the result of any recent problem they have had. With them, my focus is on finding the right balance between relief of symptoms, on one hand, and the negatives of treatment (side effects of medicines, for example), on the other hand.

How I thrive

I love good food! I'd rather go to a good farmers market than to the Super Bowl. My favorite meal is fresh bread, macaroni and cheese, vegetable soup, red wine, and pecan pie. To stay in shape and keep my cholesterol profile in check, I exercise three times per week. I also walk my dog Wilma twice per day.