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Department Hours
| Closed | 8:00 am
8:00 pm | 8:00 am
8:00 pm | 8:00 am
8:00 pm | 8:00 am
8:00 pm | 8:00 am
5:30 pm | Closed |
Welcome to My Home Page
About My Work
I see adults with a wide variety of psychiatric conditions that can be successfully treated with medication. Among the most common conditions that I treat are major depression, dysthymia (chronic depression), panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), attention-deficit disorder (ADD), bipolar affective disorder (“manic-depression”), and schizophrenia. About 60% of my schedule is devoted to seeing patients in regular appointments; the other 40% I spend as one of two psychiatrists attached to the Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), a special clinic that provides intensive psychological supports for people in crisis.
My work focuses on selecting the safest and most effective medications to treat psychological illnesses. Counseling and psychotherapy services are readily available in my department from an excellent staff of psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, and marriage and family therapists. Please do not hesitate at any time to ask me about such services. Psychiatric medication and psychotherapy are usually complementary and combining both kinds of treatment often produces a quicker and more robust recovery from psychological illness than either treatment alone.
About My Career
Psychiatry is my second career. I have a B.A. in mathematics and philosophy from Oxford University and a Ph.D. in computer science from M.I.T. An internet search on my name will turn up many references to “Streett automata,” a mathematical concept I created for my doctoral research. I was a college professor for eight years, first at Boston University, then at nearby Mills College, before entering medical school in 1989 at age 33 as the second oldest member of my medical school class at the University of California, San Francisco. Although I had enjoyed the challenge of solving very hard mathematical problems, as I got older I found I wanted work that was not only challenging but that also made an immediate positive difference to the world. I am writing this paragraph on a day that began with my very first patient telling me “Thank you for saving my life.” Job satisfaction does not get any better than that!
I joined Kaiser Permanente quite soon after finishing my psychiatry residency in 1997. I have always been in favor of an integrated approach to health care, having been a member of the Kaiser-like Harvard Community Health Plan in Boston twenty years ago as well as having been a Kaiser Permanente member while teaching at Mills College. I am quite happy working at Kaiser Permanente and I fully expect to stay in my department until I am ready to retire completely from psychiatry (probably not until at least 2021).
About My Background
I was born in Fort Knox, Kentucky, my father’s first tour of duty as a newly commissioned Lieutenant after graduating from West Point. We moved many times during my childhood; frequently returning to West Point where my father taught science and engineering to the cadets. Upon retiring from the Army, my father joined the faculty at Cornell University, eventually becoming the Dean of Engineering. Now fully retired, my father makes wonderful handmade furniture in the Arts and Crafts style. He made the handsome Mission Oak desk in my office. My mother, now deceased, was a nurse before getting married and a full-time homemaker afterwards. My father says she read to me constantly as a child, and I am sure this is how I acquired my great love of books and learning. While I am telling you about my family, I cannot resist mentioning that my uncle, Dick Heard, wrote the song “Kentucky Rain” for Elvis Presley.
My wife, Ratha, is a professor of economics at Diablo Valley College. Seven years ago, I proposed to her, five days after meeting her and unbelievable as it seems to me now, she accepted immediately. Ratha is of Asian Indian ancestry but was born and raised in Singapore before emigrating to the United States. We both love living in the Bay Area and do not expect to ever leave.
In my free time I collect Fine Press books; these are handmade books produced by master craftsmen using traditional methods. In my 20’s and 30’s, I was an active student and teacher of Aikido, the Japanese martial art, earning a third degree black belt. These days I work out as often as I can at a local gym. Ratha and I are both avid movie buffs and particularly fond of mysteries, period films, and foreign films. We often rent an entire series of a television show on DVD (such as Alias or 24) and watch the whole series in a few sittings. In addition, we never go anywhere in our cars without an audio book, listening to top-notch actors read classic and modern fiction (among many other titles, we’ve listened to unabridged recordings of all five Harry Potter books). Several of my colleagues have come to share my enthusiasm for audio books and I now keep five or six of my colleagues constantly supplied with listening material. I have a pronounced sweet tooth and enjoy baking desserts. My colleagues know that I will always bring a homemade dessert, often chocolate, to any departmental potluck.
My Credentials
| UC San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA |
| Cornell University School of Medicine, New York, NY |
| UC San Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco, CA |
| Psychiatry, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology |
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