AB Occidental Col - Psychobiology MS Physician Asst Studies - Touro Univ, Ca. MS Public Health - Touro Univ, Ca. PhD UCLA - Neuroscience

My journey to clinical medicine has been a bit circuitous and perhaps longer than most, though I have never strayed far from biomedical science. When I left Occidental College in 1989 with a baccalaureate degree in Psychobiology I faced a choice between medical school and a doctoral program. A number of factors led me away from medical training at that time. I had developed a deep and abiding interest in the human brain and its functioning, and my ultimate career goal was to teach. Consequently, I made the choice to pursue a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at UCLA.

In 1994, with a degree in neuroscience, I left California for the first time in my life with my wife and we travelled to New Jersey. For 30 months I worked in a neuroimmunology laboratory as a post-doctoral fellow. This was a good learning experience but I ultimately came to realize I had begun to lose sight of my career aspirations. I was getting further and further away from the classroom. So I took a second post-doctoral fellowship at Berlex Biosciences in Richmond, California and moved back to my home state and to a region in which I had always hoped to live.

While at Berlex, I began teaching part-time throughout the Bay Area. Ultimately, I was hired to teach basic sciences in a new program at Samuel Merritt College, the first Master’s degree-granting Physician Assistant Program in California. Quickly, I was given an opportunity to become a full-time faculty member and I had achieved my goal of teaching at the graduate level, and in a medical curriculum. After several years as a member of the faculty I was given the opportunity to become a physician assistant myself.

I was introduced to Bayside by one of my Samuel Merritt graduates, Heidi Heal, a PA in the practice who suggested I do my own Family Medicine rotation under Dr. Eichel’s supervision. I was overwhelmed by my experience and the opportunity to finally do medicine, something I had thought about since deciding to go into the Neuroscience program out of college. When I completed my PA training and a Master’s in Public Health for good measure, I was fortunate enough to be invited to return to Bayside Medical Group to work as a PA on the family practice team. I could not ask for a better group of colleagues, from Dr. Eichel, to the other PAs, to the office staff, my experience here has been truly amazing. I now enjoy the best of both worlds, leading the PA Program at Samuel Merritt College and working as a clinician 3 sessions per week affords me the opportunity to truly blend two profound interests into a busy and exciting work week. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity and look forward to working with you.