BS, U.C. San Francisco
FNPPA, U.C. Davis
Registered Respiratory Therapist

I was born and raised in Oakland as a third generation Bay Area native. I was always interested in medicine, even as a small child, when I played at nursing dolls and baby kittens back to life. It was only natural for me to major in cell and molecular biology at San Francisco State, from which I graduated Summa Cum Laude.

My next step in the medical field was to become a respiratory therapist, working in all areas of the hospital: ICU, ER, pediatric ICU and neonatal ICU. I took care of patients with asthma and lung disease, post-surgical patients, and premies on ventilators. While that was often thrilling work, I wanted to expand, so I returned to school at U.C. Davis, where I received my physician assistant degree from that excellent program. Then in 2001 I joined Bayside, where I have felt right at home every since.

The variety of family practice is very appealing to me. On any day I will see patients of all ages with all sorts of problems. I enjoy managing chronic conditions, diagnosing and treating medical problems, doing histories and physicals, doing well-woman examinations, injecting joints, doing in-office biopsies and minor surgeries – all of it! In addition, I also enjoy practicing travel medicine, which is another service of Bayside’s family practice division.

On the personal side, I live in Alameda and enjoy spending time with my husband, Peter Heelan, and my two children, Nora and Niall. I play Irish music on the concertina and accordion, and I am often seen playing local gigs at Irish functions. (Yes, that’s my heritage, all right!)

(By they way, if you would like to learn more about the PA profession, please go to the American Academy of Physician Assistants at www.aapa.org,).