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 Office: 925-295-5163 E-mail your doctor View your preventive services

Welcome to My Home Page

About Me

I chose medicine as a career while I was a human biology major at Stanford University. My experience traveling with a country doctor in England, while studying abroad, was a very powerful experience. I studied medicine at University of California Los Angeles, and had the opportunity to train in emergency medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Emergency medicine has always appealed to me because it demands a broad range of knowledge and procedural skills. I spent the early years of my career in two trauma centers in San Jose before moving to Kaiser Permanente, Walnut Creek. The Kaiser Permanente practice was superior in that I was able to spend more time with my patients, develop more depth in my practice, and collaborate with other specialists in the best evidence-based treatment plans. I have changed my philosophy in the practice of emergency medicine over the last 17 years. While I still appreciate the lifesaving procedures, I have come to enjoy the opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations with my patients, and become a partner with them as they begin to heal from illness or injury.

I speak medical Spanish, which is appreciated by our Hispanic patients. I have been chief of the Emergency Department since 1998. My clinical interests include development of emergency care paths for cardiac arrhythmias, chest pain, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and stroke.

In 2003, we opened our new state of the art Emergency Department, which enables us to deliver timely care in the privacy of 52 treatment rooms.

When I'm not working as a physician, I enjoy a wide range of athletic pursuits. These include running, swimming, golf, tennis, and skiing. My wife and I are raising four wonderful kids. I volunteer as a coach for soccer and basketball teams. I am a board member of the Walnut Creek Aquabears, a United States Swim Team.

My Credentials

Medical school	UC Los Angeles, School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA
Internship	UC Los Angeles Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
Residency	UC Los Angeles Medical Center, Los Angeles, 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.

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