Facility Walnut Creek Medical Center Department of Hospital Medicine Address 1425 S. Main Street Hospital Walnut Creek CA 94596 Map & Directions Telephone General Information: (925) 295-4000 E-mail your doctor View your preventive services

Welcome to my Home Page!

Thank you for visiting my home page. I view this page as an effective way to introduce myself and as an avenue to provide you with useful medical information on the internet.

I grew up in Los Angeles, California where my first introduction to medicine was from Dr. Robert Shirley, my wonderful and dedicated pediatrician, who even made house calls. He kindled my interest in medicine and served as a role model. Having chemistry sets since I was seven years of age stimulated my interest in science. At California Berkeley I took a course in undergraduate zoology taught by Dr. Richard Eakin, whose reverence for the beauty and complexity of human biology directed me toward pre-med studies, along with my economics major. I attended medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, where I met my wife, who is a dental hygienist. Moving to Wisconsin, I completed three years of medical residency at the University of Wisconsin, where my medical professors took great delight in patient care and were less concerned with esoteric research. After Wisconsin, I returned to San Francisco for a fourth year residency dedicated to outpatient and community medicine. I am board certified in Internal Medicine, with added qualification in Geriatrics. I am a Full Clinical Professor at UCSF.

I first practiced in the then rural community of Vacaville, California, before joining three other internists in a private practice in Berkeley. I had the opportunity to meet and care for people of all age’s from12-101, and to care for up to four generations in one family. Like Dr. Shirley, I enjoyed making many house calls. After 15 years in private practice I found the business aspects of medicine overwhelming, so I joined Kaiser Permanente, where I was able to devote full time to patient care and volunteer teaching at UCSF. This organization has given me the opportunity to provide thorough, innovative care with a minimum of hassles. I do not have to ask an insurance company for permission to do a test, consult a specialist, or order most medicines. With Kaiser Permanente insurance my patients do not have to worry about gigantic medical bills. I recall one patient at Kaiser Permanente, Oakland who at age 45 developed a viral infection of his heart, requiring a $400,000 heart transplant at Stanford. Except for a few hundred dollars in deductibles, his entire bill was covered by our organization. As a private patient he would have had to pay at least 20%, or $80,000 for that operation. Over the years Kaiser Permanente has developed innovative care programs, such as those for congestive heart failure, diabetes, and asthma, designed to keep patients symptom free and out of the hospital. Kaiser Permanente provides a myriad of health education programs at minimal patient cost, including how to quit smoking, prenatal classes, and asthma classes, all of which help members prevent illness and stay healthy.

After eleven years in primarily outpatient medicine, I am now a full time hospitalist at Kaiser Permanente, Walnut Creek, where I meet delightful new patients every day and continually learn from my patients and colleagues. I spend one day a month at Kaiser Permanente Oakland in the Geriatric Evaluation Clinic.

My philosophy in medicine has been to listen to my patients and provide the kind of care I would want my family to have. I have always tried to foster preventive medicine, advising my patients to exercise more, eat healthier foods, drink less alcoholic beverages, and refrain from smoking. I find that 60% of my hospitalized patients are there with preventable problems, such as emphysema from smoking.

As for my personal life, I have tried to make as much time as possible for my wonderful wife and three daughters. Kaiser Permanente has made it possible to spend more time at home and less on paper work. My interests include photography, running, reading fiction, dogs, and traveling.

My Credentials

Medical school	UC San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Residency	University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Residency	UC San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Board certification	Geriatric Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine
Board certification	Internal Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine

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