I was born in Denver, Colorado and was raised in a small town called Broomfield, located just outside of Boulder. Although I grew up in the mountains, I spent most of my summers in Hawaii with close family friends and developed a love of the ocean. When I finished with school, it seemed natural that I would make Hawaii my permanent home. My parents still live in Colorado, and I have a sister with a master’s degree in special education development.
When I was 15 years old, I went on a medical mission in Belize, where I worked in an under-served community doing blood pressure checks. This experience inspired me to pursue a career in the field of medicine. I love working in primary care, where I get to meet all the generations in a family and have the opportunity to monitor and follow through on chronic medical conditions. My master’s degree in physician assistant studies is from Pacific University near Portland, Oregon. My research addressed the effects of gastric bypass surgery on diabetes mellitus. I am a member of the Hawaii Physician Assistant Society and the American Association of Physician Assistants. To stay current on developments in my field, I attend annual physician assistant conferences in Hawaii and on the Mainland and participate in continuing medical education activities, both online and at Kaiser Permanente. I also read the journals of the American Association of Physician Assistants and the American Association of Family Medicine as well as the online UpToDate. In addition to English, I speak Spanish on the intermediate level. Working with the Hawaii Permanente Medical Group is very rewarding for me, as its mission and vision of medical care are the same as my own. It is always my intent to provide high quality, compassionate care to the people of the community in which I live and work. I look forward to all patient interactions, because no two people are the same, and I realize that we are all uniquely shaped by our life experiences.
In my free time I avidly surf, run, and hike. I also am an animal lover and spend as much time with my one-year-old dog Leo as I can.
