About Me

Welcome to my Web page. There are many reasons about why people choose their profession. Perhaps the most common reason for becoming a physician involves helping people. I’m no different. But the longer I do this, the more I realize how true this really is. And as much as I love the science of medicine, what really matters to me is getting to know and taking care of my patients.

Biography

I grew up in California as an Air Force brat. Undergraduate and medical school were both at UC San Diego, and then I went north to the University of Washington for my internal medicine residency. I joined Kaiser Permanente in 1990 and was both a clinic-based and hospital-based internist until 2013, when my administrative duties led me to give up both my internal medicine and HIV outpatient practices in order to work full-time at our San Diego Medical Center. This was a bittersweet change, but it’s been compensated for by seeing and working with all the wonderful staff, colleagues, and some of my former patients, whom I have known for more than two decades. I continue to see patients in the hospital, both as a hospitalist and an attending physician on the Family Medicine inpatient service.

About my practice

I am board certified in internal medicine and geriatrics, and I have interests in HIV and altitude medicine. My medical school thesis was on acute mountain sickness, and I did my research in the Himalayas of Nepal in the shadow of Mount Everest. I have a broad range of administrative responsibilities that include physician director of quality, director of Radiology Utilization, and I’m an attending physician for the family medicine residents on the inpatient medical services. I am also the principal investigator in San Diego for a large research study for the National Institutes of Health.

How I thrive

My wife and I once traveled around the world for 13 months, and we remain avid travelers. We have many interests, including wilderness travel, visiting developing countries, snowboarding, and photography. We’ve been married for nearly three decades and have a daughter and a son. We do many things together as a family; we even attended the World Cup in Brazil in 2014.