Facility Walnut Creek Medical Center Department of Emergency Medicine Address 1425 S. Main Street Hospital North 1st Floor Walnut Creek CA 94596 Map & Directions Telephone Information: (925) 295-5100 Advice (24 hours): (925) 295-4070 E-mail your doctor View your preventive services

Welcome to My Home Page!

About Me

Thank you for looking at my home page. I view this page as a nice way to introduce myself to my patients and point my patients to some Internet health care resources that I believe to be reliable.

I grew up in Sacramento, California and have had the privilege of practicing at Kaiser Permanente since 2003. I was about half-way through medical school when I realized that the Emergency Department was where I wanted to spend my time. My work in emergency medicine appeals to me on many different levels. First, I realize that many patients who visit the ER are anxious, in pain, and have often had their lives disrupted by some unforeseen event or illness. Furthermore, patients may discover that they have a new medical condition, or worsening of an old one. In short, nobody plans to visit the Emergency Department and for many people it is not a fun experience. However, I feel that by carefully listening to my patients and treating their pain, as well as their medical illnesses, I can alleviate some of the stress of an ER visit. I like to think that I can take a potentially overwhelming experience and turn it into something that is both informative and reassuring for the patient.

Perhaps even more importantly, I view the emergency department as a gateway for accessing the many services and facilities available to Kaiser members. One of the things that I really like about working at Kaiser Permanente is the comprehensive care that we offer. Many patients who visit the ER are fairly healthy people who only come to the doctor when there’s an emergency, and they may not realize all that Kaiser can offer them. So, for instance, if I see a patient with asthma, I can refer him or her to our asthma specialists. Likewise, a patient with an anxiety disorder can receive both counseling and support classes. With Kaiser’s computer booking system, it is easy for me to refer patients to the specialty services they need.

My credentials are listed at the bottom of my home page. During my medical school years at Tulane, I became interested in immigrant and third-world medicine. I subsequently spent some time working for charity hospitals in both Haiti and Venezuela. Today I serve as a volunteer physician for Doctors of the World, an organization that helps international victims of war, torture and natural disaster. In addition to my work at DOW, I enjoy doing research and have been involved in several innovative projects at Kaiser Permanente.

When I’m not involved in my work, I love to garden and read. I find gardening particularly relaxing. Although I’m not a great cook, I can certainly appreciate a fine restaurant!

So, I hope my home page has helped to remove some of the uncertainty associated with a visit to the emergency department. Although it’s not something that most people look forward to, I and my colleagues at the Walnut Creek emergency department view it as a chance to make a difference in peoples’ lives. If you are interested in learning more, we have included some helpful web sites to the left side of this page.

My Credentials

Medical school	Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA
Residency	Highland General Hospital, Oakland, CA
Board certification	Emergency Medicine, American Board of Emergency Medicine

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.

This site may contain links to other web sites outside of www.permanente.net. Kaiser Permanente has no control over the content or the availability of these sites, and is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such Web sites. Web links are provided as an educational tool, and should not be relied upon for personal diagnosis or treatment. A link or reference to a web site should not be construed as an endorsement of the site or its contents. Any medical content that you feel may be important to your health should always be discussed with your Kaiser Permanente physician.