A: I chose to enter the field of Emergency Medicine and, upon graduating medical school, became an intern, then resident, at Harbor-UCLA’s Emergency Medicine Residency Program. I subsequently completed a Fellowship in emergency medicine at the same institution. In 1997, however, I was extremely fortunate to be accepted into the first calls of The Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, under the guidance of Dr. Andrew Weil [another Novello 2006 author].

Q: What is integrative medicine?

A: I borrow directly from the Program in Integrative Medicine, because this is what I believe:

“Healing-oriented medicine that takes account of the whole person (body, mind, and spirit), including all aspects of lifestyle. It emphasizes the therapeutic relationship and makes use of all appropriate therapies, both conventional and alternative.”

Patient and practitioner are partners in the healing process. All factors that influence health, wellness, and disease are taken into consideration, including mind, spirit, and community, as well as the body. Appropriate use of both conventional and alternative methods facilitates the body’s innate healing response. Effective interventions that are natural and less invasive should be used whenever possible. Those are some of the defining principles of Integrative Medicine.

Q: How did you become interested in this field?

A: I became interested in Chinese medicine in the early 1990s – the practice seemed like a poetic way to care for another person, and data were accumulating about its potential benefits in a variety of health conditions – and I wanted to learn more. It seemed it would only be an avocation until I learned of Dr. Weil’s program. I cannot easily describe the impact the program has had on me, but that impact, and what I learn from my patients, informs everything I do in realms both professional and personal.

Q: Who are your mentors, both personally and professionally?

A: It sounds pat, but my immediate response is my family – my mother, father, brother, and my wife and children. One of the great gifts of being a physician is how much we can learn from our patients – it is not infrequent that I come away from an interaction feeling I should have been the one paying the bill. Lastly, I have become a different and, I believe, better person because of Dr. Weil and the program he established.

Q: When did you become interested in writing?

A: A: I come from a family of readers and have always loved books. I remember trying to write “The Great American Novel” around age 12 (that didn’t go too far!), so I guess I’ve always had the bug.

Q: You finally did become an author when your book Healthy Child, Whole Child was published. What was that like?

A: It was fantastic! I chanced upon two wonderful partners who shared a sense that we would have liked a book by our sides to help raise our kids early on. We had a great time together, and learned much from one another, including about ourselves. I came away with the understanding that even though the writing process is intimate and personal, collaborative efforts have the potential to be even richer for both author (s) and reader(s).

Q: What do you enjoy reading for pleasure?

A: I enjoy non-fiction and fiction, though I find myself reading more non-fiction these days – I suppose it’s because I sincerely love to learn. At present I’m reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma. I rarely re-read books with one major exception – “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. That would be my book of choice were I shipwrecked on a deserted island.

Interview Date: September 2006
Profile and questions compiled by Megan M., Main Library