Facility Martinez Medical Offices Department of Adult Medicine Address 200 Muir Road Ensenada Building 2nd Floor Martinez CA 94553 Map & Directions Telephone Appt/Advice: (925) 372-1999 Cancellation: (925) 372-1999 E-mail your doctor View your preventive services

My Office Hours

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
	8:30 am 5:30 pm	8:30 am 5:30 pm	8:30 am 5:30 pm	8:30 am 5:30 pm	8:30 am 5:30 pm
Closed during lunch, 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm

Welcome to My Home Page!

Why Did I Choose to Practice Medicine?

As a child I remember being asked in Sunday school, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I remember to this day that my response was, "I want to be an ambulance driver!" Have I ever driven an ambulance? No, I have not. But, I have always had the strong desire to be involved in the care of people who are in need. Also, as a child, I was very impressed by the care I received from my own family doctor. On one occasion he suspected that I had a problem with my hip. My parents had no car of their own so he drove me 15 miles to the nearest hospital to get an x-ray.

In high school in the rural west country of England I excelled at sciences, and the progression to medicine seemed a natural path to follow to incorporate my love of science and my vocation to be in a "caring" profession. I was from a relatively poor blue-collar family and was fortunate to get a full scholarship to London University where I began my training at Charing Cross Hospital in Central London in 1972. There in the heart of London's theater district, close to the River Thames, Trafalgar Square, and England's Houses of Parliament, is where I learned the art of medicine.

Why Did I Choose Internal Medicine?

Frankly, I derive most of my pleasure in medicine from my interactions with patients in the clinic setting. I have never really felt at home in busy hospitals or Intensive Care Units, and I definitely am not called to the surgical side of the profession. Like my old family doctor, I like to follow patients and also families over time. After medical school, I completed a family practice residency in England and then started to work as a general practitioner in West London. The area where I practiced bordered on a large housing project and also included some of London's more affluent neighborhoods. Literally, I followed patients from the cradle to the grave. I was accredited at that time to deliver babies and had the pleasure to deliver some of my own patients at home. I then watched as the children grew up, providing their well child checks and giving their immunizations. With my three partners we provided comprehensive medical care and a program of preventive health care. I enjoyed the job but it was difficult providing 24 hour coverage in such a small group practice, and after nine years I was ready to do something else.

In 1989 I moved to California and for six years I worked at the University of California, Los Angeles, on a multi-center HIV/AIDS research project. During this time I gave up my clinical practice and devoted myself to research and obtaining my master’s degree in public health.

In 1995 I moved from Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay Area and started a three year internal medicine residency at The Alameda County Medical Center in Oakland, otherwise known as Highland Hospital. This was a tough three years but it taught me so much. Part of the residency program was based at Kaiser Permanente’s Martinez Medical Offices, and this was where I was first introduced to the integrated system for the provision of care which is the hallmark of the Kaiser Permanente model. Immediately, I recognized much of what I loved about the British National Health Service, in terms of providing comprehensive care. But I was most impressed by the information systems and the technology used to monitor complex diseases, medications, and laboratory tests. It was during this time that I decided that on completion of my residency I would seek a position with Kaiser Permanente.

Why do I Practice at Kaiser Permanente?

As I have said, I like very much the integrated nature of the Kaiser Permanente model, where physicians, hospitals, and the health plan all work together. The philosophy of the organization advances the concepts of good preventive medicine and is based on reliable evidence-based research. In my role as a primary care physician I get to work with colleagues who are the best in their fields. I can get rapid and quick answers to difficult problems from expert subspecialists which enhances the care that I can give my patients. My experience is that when the direction of care is dictated by people with little medical training the quality of that care is not as good as it is in a system like ours.

I have been with Kaiser Permanente now since 1996 and I do not regret my decision to join the group. Not very long ago a patient asked me whether I enjoyed my job, as her son had recently become a physician and was thinking about where to practice. I could quite truthfully say to her that I did enjoy my job. Having worked in the British National Health Service and the County system in Alameda I could not imagine working anywhere else other than for Kaiser Permanente. As a career physician I feel valued and supported in my day to day work.

What About My Interest in HIV?

When I was a medical student in England in the 1970s, HIV was unknown and the AIDS epidemic had not yet begun. During my time as a family practitioner in the 1980s, I began to see the emergence of the epidemic in my patients. There was little in the early days that one could do for those patients as they sickened and died, and it was a time of great sadness and frustration for me as a physician. It was around 1984 when I attended the first ever training course for physicians in London, and I have regularly attended conferences ever since to keep abreast of the continued advances in the fight to control HIV. With the advent of new and powerful medications, the management of the disease has now changed dramatically. No longer is the sense of frustration there in caring for people with this infection.

In 1989 I accepted an invitation to work at the University of California, Los Angeles, on an important study of HIV and AIDS funded by The National Institutes of Health. The study had begun in 1983 and continues to this day. Then, on completion of my residency and just before I began work at Kaiser Permanente, I was approached by the Chief of Infectious Disease to see whether I would be interested in helping her start a special clinic to look after the particular needs of the patients in our area with HIV. I readily said yes and we began the clinic soon after. I now have the pleasure of looking after nearly 100 persons with HIV. I also can proudly say that Kaiser Permanente provides the some of the best care for HIV in comparison with other systems of care.

Why Do I Involve Myself with Medical Administration?

In addition to looking after patients, I took on the role of Associate Chief of Medicine in 2002. I believe that in order to protect the future of health care, physicians not only need to be actively involved in its day to day management but also its future development. Currently I devote approximately one half day per week to administration, and this does not greatly impact my ability to provide continuity of care to my patients.

What About Me as a Person?

Outside of the office I tend to live a quiet life. I have a home in the Oakland Hills and I enjoy spending time there and working on its development. I enjoy music, and have an annual subscription to both the San Francisco Symphony and the San Francisco Opera. My passion for opera began as a medical student in London. My medical school was in the same block as the English National Opera at Sadler's Wells and just around the corner from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. I also go to the theater a great deal, and I like to travel regularly to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon, where I have been a member of the festival for more than 10 years. I share my home with my Rottweiler "Hannah" and I love to take her walking in the Oakland Hills and to Point Isabel.

My Credentials

Medical school	Charing Cross & Westminister Medical School-med., London, England
Internship	Highland General Hospital, Oakland, CA
Residency	Highland General Hospital, Oakland, CA
Post Graduate Training	UC Los Angeles, School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
Board certification	Internal Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine

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