About Me

Welcome to my Web page. I’m happy to have this chance to introduce myself to you and tell you about my work as an ob/gyn at Kaiser Permanente.

Biography

I am a native Southern Californian and grew up in Los Angeles. I went off to Illinois for college and received my BA in psychology at Northwestern University in 1989. I earned my MD at the Chicago Medical School’s University of Health Sciences in 1993, and I completed my ob/gyn residency at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in 1997. I worked in private practice on my arrival in San Diego before joining Kaiser Permanente in 2001. I have been married since 1997, and we have 2 children. I enjoy my practice and members thoroughly and feel honored to be a physician at Kaiser Permanente.

About my practice

I feel that purposeful living and focusing on the main pillars of health are important. I try to both follow this way of life and practice medicine from this standpoint, with a keen focus on mental health. To this end, in January 2015 I started work in the Maternal Wellness Program to focus on the overall health of women struggling with anxiety and/or depression during pregnancy or in the postpartum period. I had previously taken a sabbatical at UC San Diego in the Reproductive Psychiatry department to learn strategies to help these patients, and I have used this training as a springboard to continue growing this program at Kaiser Permanente. I now dedicate my office practice to the Maternal Wellness Program and no longer have a routine obstetrical or gynecological practice. Fortunately, I know my members are in good hands for routine ob/gyn services with my dedicated colleagues.

How I thrive

I believe that mind and body are connected. I have learned a lot about mental health in the last 8+ years and credit the following for my own improved overall health: mindfulness, meditation, self-care, connecting with the people that matter to me, moving my body (outside when possible), setting better boundaries, learning to say no, moving to a more plant-based diet (and accepting when I don’t choose this for any particular meal), and developing a practice of medicine that I believe in.