About Me

I was born in Miami Beach, Florida and attended school there until my college years. I was raised in the Jewish tradition of charity, and also had an interest in helping people in need. I have always had a love of learning, and especially liked science and psychology and sociology. Medicine seemed the perfect meld of science and helping people. I married after college, and my husband also attended medical school. We have two children, now both grown. My oldest child teaches History and Government at a public high school in Washington, DC. My son, who has a fine arts degree in Photography, is currently planning to attend graduate school in Forest Management. My hobbies are reading and cross country skiing. I also love theatre and dance.

About my practice

I graduated from the University of Chicago and then attended University of California at San Francisco school of medicine. I completed my medical residency at Boston City Hospital then a Pulmonary fellowship, split between Boston University and Massachusetts General Hospital (Harvard Medical program). I then went into pulmonary practice in Portland, Oregon and became boarded in Pulmonary Medicine. I joined Kaiser Permanente Northwest in 1987 after the birth of my second child. I have primarily functioned in Kaiser Permanente as a pulmonary and critical care physician. Other things I have done include being the medical director of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and respiratory therapy departments at the old Bess Kaiser Hospital. In the past ten years, I have increased my involvement in the assessment and management of sleep related problems. I passed my Sleep Medicine boards in 2010. I view myself, as having a primary allegiance to my patient's and my main function to educate them about their conditions, so they can take responsibility and manage their own health problems.

How I thrive

Involvement in intellectual, political and physical pursuits help to keep me healthy and sane. I love to read, especially science fiction, and contemporary novelists. My husband and I attend two play series, two modern dance series and many films, especially through the Northwest Film Center and Portland International Film Festival. We also enjoy attending the Portland Institute of Contemporary Arts Time Based Art Festival, and we contribute regularly to the arts. Our main local charity interest is the Oregon Food Bank. My husband and I have been sponsors of the Blues Festival for the past few years (the main fund raiser for the Food Bank) after being long time contributors to the food bank. I read two newspapers regularly and write my congress people, and I vote. I love to hike, and walk my two dachshunds. On hikes, I love to identify flowers and plants and take photographs.