PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN
Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio
After training in Internal Medicine at UCSD during the peak of the AIDS era (when there was no treatment), I ventured into primary care for the next 17 years at Scripps. It was here it became crystal clear to me that standard medicine, while amazing in specialty care and technology, was sorely lacking in many ways for patients in need of a lifestyle changes to change their health. Serving as Medical Director for the Dean Ornish MD program for Reversing Heart Disease while running the Prevention and Wellness Program at Scripps, I also led and pioneered patient care groups for my senior patients in my primary care practice.
I have actively incorporated psychology, spirituality and integrative medicine in all forms and fashions over the past 30 years, I have a burning passion to help bring a new consciousness to medicine, primary care, health and healing – a desire to implement a new approach that comes from love and oneness. The journey of the inner world, of feeling and understanding, has been an incredible adventure that has helped me personally become “OK” and strong inside and has propelled me to seek and guide a new way of being for my clients and peers. This work is only beginning as I and we go forward to heal our beautiful world.
There is a path forward that requires a whole new way of thinking and being. I have been truly blessed by my rich medical experiences and now look forward to sharing what I have learned – health (and real primary care) is connection to self, connection to others and connection to the world. Connection is the key to health and happiness and it CAN be felt, taught and, most importantly, held and shared. I embrace programs such as I AM The Medicine that guide patients to find the natural medicine within – body, heart and soul – to find a new way of being and living.
Background:
Education: Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, BA Psychology, 1984; Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio, 1989.
Residency: University of California, San Diego, Internal Medicine, 1989-1992.
Certifications: Licensure held in California since 1992; Flex Examination 1989 ; Board Certified Internal Medicine 1992; Re-certified 2002, 2012; American Board of Holistic Medicine (ABHM), 2006.
Employment: Perlman Clinic, current; Pacific Pearl 2015-2020; Private Practice North County San Diego – 2010 to 2015; Hospice by the Sea – 2002 to present ; San Diego Cancer Center Staff Physician – 2008 to 2010; Scripps Clinic Primary Care Physician – 1992 to 2008; Special Projects Medical Director and Group Support Leader of Dean Ornish Program for Reversing Heart Disease Scripps -1996 to 1998; Medical Director Scripps Clinic Wellness and Prevention Programs – 1997 to 1999; Physician Leader – Scripps Shared Medical Appointments – 1997 to 2008; Physician Leader – Medical Missions in Fiji – 2010, 2012; Physician Leader – Community Senior Health Forum, Del Mar, CA – 2008 to present; Home Medical Visits – 1996 to present ; Assisted Dying Support 2017 – present.
Hobbies: Ocean activities, Nature walks