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About Me

Other Languages I speak: Mandarin

I was born in Chicago of immigrant parents. Then, we moved back to Taiwan for 12 years before returning to the United States when I was 14. This experience allows me to be bilingual now.

I went to UC Berkeley for my undergraduate degree in Chemistry. I met my husband there and I got married within one week of college graduation. Then we moved to Baltimore for more education.

I first obtained a PhD in 1995 from the Department of Pharmacology at Johns Hopkins University. Then I went to SUNY Stony Brook Medical School and obtained my MD degree in 1999. After 3 years of residency in internal medicine at Duke University and Stanford University, I was ready to practice as a Hospitalist. I came to Kaiser Permanente in 2002 after finishing my residency.

Being a Hospitalist is a relatively new specialty of physicians who take care of hospitalized, acutely ill patients. Hospitalists function as primary care physicians for the acutely ill patients in the hospital. I coordinate the care plan with a team of specialists, nurses, physical therapists, nutritionists, and discharge planners. Being hospitalized and in declining health is frightening to most people. I feel that it is my job to help patients and families understand the diagnosis and prognosis of the illness to the best of my abilities. I enjoy the challenge of helping an ill patient improve and return to his/her previous level of health. Upon discharge, I will convey the information from the hospital to primary care physicians for the continuation of the patient's care.

I didn't dream of becoming a doctor when I was a child. In fact, I went to Medical School with the intention of returning to medical research. However, life pointed me in a different direction. I found that helping patients and families to understand their illness to be very rewarding. Being a Hospitalist allows me to make a large impact on the care of the patient.

Specialty interests and affiliations within your field:

Due to the nature of hospital medicine, I am frequently speaking with patients and their families after a life-altering event such as a stroke or diagnosis of cancer. I feel that it is important to provide patients and families accurate medical information and to assist in making medical decisions which are consistent with the patient's goals.

Family and Friends:

I have been happily married to my husband Alex since I graduated from college. We went through our separate medical training together. He is an avid cyclist and taught me how to bike when I was 20 years old. Now we can bike a century (100 miles) together on our tandem. My oldest son was born one day before Medical School orientation. He has a black belt in Taekwondo and participates with Odyssey of the Mind. He loves to read. My younger son was born 2 months before internship. He loves math. The youngest is about 10 years younger. He loves playing with his big brothers. Though the older ones resist with all their might my attempts to make them bilingualm the youngest chats happily in both Mandarin and English.

Interests:

Cycling, Skiing, Cooking, and Gardening.

I used to be quite sedentary throughout high school and college. I started to exercise during graduate school and medical school. Since both of my parents developed diabetes, I have started to take exercise much more seriously. My fasting glucose decreased from 101 to 89 with more regular exercise. I have finished a few century rides and a couple marathons. More About Me

My Credentials

Medical school	State University of New York At Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY
Residency	Stanford University Hospital, Stanford, CA
Residency	Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC
Board certification	Internal Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine

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