About Me

Welcome to my Web page and thank you for taking the time to get to know a bit about me. I’ve been an obstetrician/gynecologist at the Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center for 28 years.

Biography

I grew up in Philadelphia and then did my training in Michigan. I moved to California in 1986. I have a wife and three college-age daughters. Aside from being a doctor, I am most interested in literature (primarily fiction) and Rueda de Casino, a Cuban style of salsa that’s done in a group, like a cross between L.A.-style salsa and square dancing. My favorite haunts are the used book section at my local library and wherever people are listening to timba dance music and dancing Casino-style salsa.

About my practice

I practice general obstetrics and gynecology but have a particular interest and expertise in minimally invasive surgery. I established a laparoscopic hysterectomy program (removal of the uterus through the navel) at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles in 2003 and have been involved in teaching other doctors how to do this surgery ever since. I also perform laparoscopic and robotic myomectomy (removal of fibroids from the uterus, enabling women to get relief of fibroid symptoms and preserve future fertility). Most of the minimally invasive operations I perform are done on an outpatient basis, and most women are back to all normal activities within 2–3 weeks. I volunteer as an attending physician at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where I teach resident physicians how to perform laparoscopic procedures.

How I thrive

I ride an exercise bicycle while I read the paper in the morning and (whenever possible) a regular bike on the bike bath at the beach. I sing in a choir and dance salsa with a group called Rueda in the Park, which teaches Casino de Rueda at various locations in the L.A. area.