Specialty Psychiatry: Child/Adolescent Facility Oakland Medical Center Child & Family Psychiatry Address 3505 Broadway 4th floor Oakland CA 94611 Map & Directions Telephone Reception: (510) 752-1075, press 2 for Child Psychiatry Cancellation: (510) 752-6784 Fax: (510) 752-1404 E-mail your doctor View your preventive services

Department Hours

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Closed	7:00 am 7:30 pm	7:00 am 7:30 pm	7:00 am 7:30 pm	7:00 am 7:30 pm	7:00 am 5:30 pm	Closed

About Me

Why I became a Physician

Since I was eight years old I wanted to become a physician. Although I have no family members in medicine, my very first doctor was a neighborhood doctor who took a genuine interest in all the families he saw. I looked up to him and knew that is what I wanted to do with my life.

Why I chose My Specialty

Psychiatry called me early in life. From my adolescence, many people - young and old - found me a capable listener. When friends I grew up with began to have children as teens, their infants gravitated towards me and I was able to connect with them at some level they found soothing. As an undergraduate I majored in psychology. During medical school I learned a great deal in my Psychiatry rotation and felt I had found a professional home. It wasn’t until my rotation in Internal Medicine that I had a life-changing experience. During my last 48 hours of the rotation six of my twelve patients died from a variety of chronic illnesses and malignancies. What was most important to each and every one was not to die alone. I was granted the honor and privilege to share these last moments with four of my patients while the other two were fortunate enough to have relatives present to share their final moments. Those four people taught me that sharing someone’s most private moments is more important than the treatment of any disease. The experience sealed the deal for me to enter Psychiatry.

What I like about Kaiser Permanente

That’s easy - the organization, resources, benefits and people. Having served 22 years in the Army, I have a solid sense about the essential elements of a well-run organization and found such traits with Kaiser. The model of health care born in Kaiser most closely approximates my vision of accessible, comprehensive, integrated health care. This vision will be advanced by the upcoming Health Connect connectivity. The benefits speak for themselves. Of course, Kaiser’s most important resource, its people - both providers and members - make me want to come to work every day.

My Philosophy of Care

My goal as a child psychiatrist is to be put out of business. I believe each child has an innate drive to learn, to seek new information from birth, to be the best they can be. This drive gets altered, sometimes derailed, by genetics and life experiences. Parents and children are their own experts on what has altered and derailed them from achieving their full potential as both parents and individuals. My role is to partner or collaborate with both parent and child to get them back on track. I know parents and young people do the best job they can but sometimes all sorts of circumstances get them off course. My role as coach is to help them learn new plays to run to get their team on course so that eventually I am no longer needed. I provide evidence based information and support for both parent and child to make new choices that promote mental and physical health.

I practice these principles in my personal life by self-care that includes balanced meals, regular exercise, and spiritual growth. Exercise, good nutrition and humor are essential to physical, mental, and spiritual health.

My Interests

My clinical interests and strengths include thorough evaluations (history is everything), ADHD, bipolar and mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and trauma.

When I am not working, my interests include jogging, enjoying the natural beauty of California, and relationships with family and friends.

My Credentials

Medical school	University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey School of Medicine, Newark, NJ
Internship	Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC
Residency	Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC
Fellowship	Letterman Army Medical Center, San Francisco, CA
Board certification	Psychiatry, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
Board certification	Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

Helpful Information for Members

Be sure to check the "Get Health Advice" and "Appointments/Rx refills" menus above for additional information regarding appointments, prescriptions, health education classes and other health-related topics. You can also click on my department link above to receive additional health information.

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• Checklist for New Members

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Disclaimer
If you think you have a MEDICAL OR PSYCHIATRIC EMERGENCY, CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY or go to the nearest hospital. DO NOT attempt to access emergency care through this web site. An emergency medical condition is a medical or psychiatric condition that manifests itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity (including severe pain) such that you could reasonably expect the absence of immediate medical attention to result in any of the following: serious jeopardy to your health, serious impairment to your bodily functions, or serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part. An emergency medical condition is also "active labor," which means a labor when there is inadequate time for safe transfer to a Plan hospital (or designated hospital) before delivery or if a transfer poses a threat to the health of the member or unborn child.

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