Biographical
Sketch:
I
graduated from Point Loma Nazarene College (now
University) in San Diego in 1990 with a B.A. in
biology. I attended Ross University School of Medicine
and graduated in 1996. I did my Family Practice
residency at University Medical Center here in Fresno
and was chief resident in my final year. I am board-certified
by the American Board of Family Practice and I am
a proud member of the American Academy of Anti-Aging
Medicine. I provide all aspects of family medicine
except one: I do not deliver babies (I like to sleep
sometime!). I am the medical director of Community
Home Palliative Care Program and do a lot of end-of-life
care for individuals who are nearing the end of
their lives. I have been married now for over 16
years and have 3 children ranging in age from 3
- 15.
Before becoming a physician, I served in the U.S.
Army in military intelligence (yes, I know the joke)
as a Soviet military analyst and Russian linguist
and I was trained in the Russian language at Defense
Language Institute, Foreign Language Center in Presidio
of Monterey, California. I served at a strategic
listening post in Augsburg, (West) Germany, for
three years until I was honorably discharged in
1983.
My hobbies include reading philosophical and theological
studies, exercising and spending time with my beloved
wife and children. I met my Japanese wife in San
Diego where she was attending an English conversational
language school.
My philosophy about medicine is that being a board-certified
Family Practitioner, it allows me the freedom to
perform many different procedures and I was trained
in managing many different chronic illnesses. My
policy is that I will refer you to a specialist
when I feel that your condition is reaching the
limits of my knowledge base.
I believe that the best way to get the most out
of our relationship is to work as a team. I do not
believe in the "paternalistic" model of
medicine in which you, the patient, did everything
the doctor told you to do without question. You
are paying me for my knowledge, skill, and expertise
in practicing medicine but ultimately it is YOUR
decision as to what to do. I also believe in simple
honesty in our relationship. I will always try to
be tactful but if I must make a point that is important
and I want to be sure that I am not misunderstood,
I will be blunt (at least politely blunt).
However, there is one aspect that I will place all
of the responsibility upon YOU. If you leave my
office confused and not understanding what I explained
to you, you did not do the right thing. I demand
that you stop me ANYTIME that you do not understand
something that I have said so that I may explain
it to you further or in different terms. If you
do not understand what is wrong with your body,
how can you be expected to participate fully in
your care?
Finally, there are times when I may be running late
seeing you for your scheduled appointment. I will
apologize in advance; however, I spend whatever
time is necessary with my patients and sometimes
that is quick and other times it is longer than
what was scheduled. I know that this may be frustrating
to you, but imagine you are the patient that I need
to spend extra time with, e.g., a new diagnosis
of diabetes or cancer, or you have multiple questions
about your complex medical condition. Would you
want me to rush you out of my office because you
were "over" the 15 minutes of scheduled
time? So please be understanding. If you feel that
you cannot wait, then I would ask that you not begin
treatment here and seek care elsewhere…it would
be very frustrating for you as well as frustrating
for us. We will always try and make sure that your
visit is well worth the wait.
