Ann Bruner-Welch, PA

Bio

I hope you find my site helpful in answering your questions, whether they are about your own orthopedic concerns, preparing for surgery or recovery/rehabilitation. I've also tried to include information to help you understand who I am and the role I play in your care.

Many years ago, my brother gave me a bookplate with the following quote, "I shall pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again." This has become my personal philosophy on life since.

Currently, I work in the Orthopedics Department here at Kaiser Santa Rosa. I joined Kaiser Permanente in 2004, after 9 years experience as a Physician Assistant throughout Santa Rosa in a variety of practice settings.

I enjoy Orthopedics because we truly can have a significant positive impact in people's lives. We help people get better, whether it be surgery to rebuild or clean up a damaged joint, replacing a worn-out joint, or assisting a patient in recovering from a fracture. We have a wonderfully strong team of "Master Craftsmen" surgeons, stellar physicians in our fracture clinic as well as a very strong support staff that's fun to work with.

As a Physician Assistant, I see patients for pre- or post-operative visits, work as a Surgical First Assist in the Operating Room, or see patients in our Fracture Clinic as our patients recover from broken bones.

Prior to working as a Physician Assistant, I was blessed to work as a Firefighter/EMT for the City of Santa Rosa for 11 years, and 2 years prior as a Volunteer Firefighter in the Bay Area. I experienced a career-ending injury in 1990 that moved my life in new directions. I'm still very thankful for the time I had while there.

I did my Pre-Medicine coursework at Santa Rosa Junior College, and PA School at the University of California, Davis. I graduated in 1995. I have been working as a Physician Assistant since then.

When not caring for my patients at Kaiser Permanente, I'm caring for my husband of 20+ years and my 2 young children. I enjoy trains (multiple scale and live steam), teaching, writing, hosting exchange students, ice skating, embroidery, hockey, and all around having fun with my family.

My Medical Specialty

More details about my specialty:

Orthopedics is fun. We focus on the bones and joints of the arms and legs. The systems are very mechanical, which enables me to picture and understand problems more precisely.

Having experienced orthopedic challenges myself enables me to better understand my patients' perspective.

I've worn casts, braces, and prosthesis. I've used crutches, canes and wheelchairs. I've experienced severe chronic pain over a 3-year period. I've undergone surgeries, and experienced the trials and tribulations associated with the pre-op, post-op and rehabilitative periods as I recovered. I understand Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy first hand, and am thankful I was able to recover without much residual pain.

I feel fortunate to have triumphed over these life challenges, moved beyond the obstacles, and blossomed in new directions I never thought possible. I often reflect and draw on these experiences as I work with my patients on a daily basis.

My specialty interests and affiliations within my field:

I am a Fellow of the American Academy of Physician Assistants as well as the California Academy of Physician Assistants. If you have questions about Physician Assistants in general, the web sites of these organizations are good resources.

Current projects or research:

Several years ago, I was approached to write a few technical chapters for a Primary Care Textbook for mid-level practitioners such as Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants. The text, "Primary Care, a Collaborative Practice" by Mosby publishers, is now beginning its 3rd edition. I wrote chapters on Brain Tumors, Movement Disorders/Essential Tremors, and Osteoarthritis. Writing helps me better understand the subject matter as I do the research, writing, reviewing and editing.

I also help train Physician Assistant and Nurse Practitioner students, as well as other health care students. We are currently putting together a network of departments here at Kaiser Permanente, Santa Rosa, so a student coming here can get a broad range of quality experiences. The Orthopedic component would consist of learning about surgeries, pre- and post-op exams, clinical skills related to those visits, as well as spending time with our Orthopedic Technicians learning splinting and casting techniques.

Great health resources that I refer to:

Kaiser Permanente has a most impressive wealth of information on its website. I find these links most informative.

An interesting story from my training:

I did my clinical training at Sutter, Santa Rosa. I was assigned to the Urgent Care Department, which enabled me to see a broad range of patients with their respective health problems.

On Tuesday mornings, we had Orthopedic rounds. I would arrive at the Radiology Department at about 6 a.m. with x-rays from the prior week's Urgent Care orthopedic patients. (The Resident physicians reviewed the Emergency Department orthopedic patients at the same time.)

The radiologist on duty would help us learn how to read the x-rays and describe our findings. Then, at 7:00 a.m., we would present our patients to a room full of Orthopedists from around our community.

We would describe our patient (without names to protect privacy), their social situation and their orthopedic problem. It never ceased to amaze me how many different ways there are to address any given medical complaint.

Many treatments were obvious, but other problems had many possible solutions. It really showed me why they call it "practicing" medicine, and helped me understand why that practice is such an art.

Interests

Currently reading:
Magic Tree House Series with my children

Great movie:
I still love Field of Dreams and Polar Express

Hobby Photos & Links:

Live Steam Railroading

Live Steam Railroading

Riding Trains, A Family Affair

family train ride

Redwood Empire Live Steamers Interactive Museum
Train Mountain Museum - world's largest Private Live Steam railroad - good link for other live steam resources

Family & Friends

People in my life:

My husband, Don, is 9 years my senior. We share the same height, and many of the same interests - especially our love of trains.

He has a live steam diesel-electric 0-6-0, as well as 2 steam engines, a Mogul and a Shay.

He also is building an extensive HON3 model layout in his hobby room at our home. It promises to be a diverse representation of both local railroading such as Mount Tamalpias and the ferry terminals, as well as his favorite scenes from Colorado logging and mining industries.

We also built a z-scale coffee table layout that charms our living room. It measures 3'x5', and depicts several alpine villages as the trains wind along creeks, across trestles, and along cliffs from one industrial community to another.

My children and people I care about:

I have two wonderful children, a son and daughter.

My son loves to figure out how things work. His curiosity is unquenchable, and he loves to make connections between similar systems. For a Science Fair Project in kindergarten, he built a simple doorbell circuit. After understanding the intricacies of the circuit, he was then able to infer how light circuits work. He then referred to lights as the circuit was "open" or "closed" rather than the light was "on" or "off."

My daughter is artistic, and loves to draw. I frequently find little notes and pictures she has left for me on my computer, in my backpack, or in my lunch box. They always make me smile.

An interesting story about my family or friends:

My children's favorite activity is asking me to retell stories from my firefighting days with the Santa Rosa Fire Department. I found the Fire Service enjoyed a close camaraderie; a partnership of "brothers" and "sisters" sometimes closer than one's own family, and unique to the fire service. Someday, I hope to write some of the stories down for later reference. It's fun to recall the very special time in my life when I was there.

Photos of my Family & Friends:

My Partner in Life

Ann's Firefighting Days

Santa Rosa Fire Department's 1902 Steam Engine

We have 4 indoor cats. The oldest, Imsa, 15, is a Lilac Point Siamese. She's very personable, and loves to snuggle with anyone who will sit down long enough for her to climb in their lap. She went blind suddenly after an illness several years ago, but has learned to move about her environment well.

Snowflake is 10 years old. She is a Flame Point Siamese (white with orange points) who weighs in at about 5 pounds. She has a distinctive tuft of fur running down her white back like a mohawk. She is our momma kitty. At 7, she came home early in the spring, beginning to gain weight. It turned out she was carrying 2 very cute orange striped male tabby kittens.

Because we have 2 young children, we decided to keep both kittens, Sunset and Daylight. They have grown up to be 10 pound and 15 pound cats respectively. They are still very playful with each other, and lots of fun to have around.

We also have 3 goldfish in our 40 gallon fish tank. We find the fish tank makes a great nightlight for our kids' room at night. It is often very soothing to watch the fish gently swish through the water as they explore their tank.

Travel

An adventure I've had:

As a child, I dreamed of being an Olympic Ice Skater. My parents couldn't afford lessons. I skated on our local lake in the winter and the ice arena in the summer in my home town of Boulder, Colorado.

As a young adult and firefighter, I skated at Snoopy's to stay in shape. I was finally able to pay for my own lessons, and was fortunate enough to be invited to skate on both the Junior and Adult Precision Ice Skating teams for Redwood Empire Ice Arena.

The Junior team was a competitive team. We skated local, regional and national competitions sanctioned by the United States Figure Skating Association. The arena also held International competitions at our local arena.

I have not experienced anything more exhilarating than standing on the competitive ice surface, representing my home, my community and my country; feeling the excitement of what was to come, the anticipation of giving it my all for our 4-minute routine, the longest and most exhausting 4 minutes of my life.

I recall the crisp crunch of the 14 pairs of knife-like skate blades precisely cutting into the ice simultaneously in various formations, patterns and kick-lines set to varied music as we floated across the ice like a single larger entity in a flurrying dance.

I felt proud as my team stood on the frozen white cloud. Our medals, dark gold-colored, heavy metal disks suspended from red, white and blue ribbons, were placed gently around each of our necks.

Though it wasn't the Olympics, per se, it was as close as I would come. I accepted and was grateful for that opportunity. For me, the playing of our National Anthem, then skating in those competitions, was "my Olympics."

I can only imagine what it must be like for someone who has been blessed to train since childhood to make it all the way to the Olympics. How I admire their efforts. How lucky I feel to have had a wee taste of the pride they must feel for all of their accomplishments.

Favorite place in the world:

Anyplace, having fun with my family!

One of my recent trips:

I just recently took an overnight Amtrak trip with my children.

Though the train left Martinez a couple of hours late, it enabled us to go through Shasta Lake at dawn. Wow! Well worth the wait.

My daughter was curled up sleeping soundly. My son and I snuggled together as we enjoyed the incredible scenery from our picture window as the train swayed along towards our destination. Clickity-clack...clickety-clack...clickity-clack was the only sound we could hear from the back of the 15-car-long train as it snaked up the canyons, over tressles and bridges and hugged the cliffs of the Cascades.

For breakfast, we stared out another window, this one in the dining car midway up the train, as we enjoyed our pancakes and eggs. The picture now was of a pristine mirror lake, encircled by shimmering yellow and green aspen and pine trees; the sky, a crisp turquoise blue. A freight train slowly passed on the opposite side, reflected perfectly upside down in the lake.

I close my eyes now, and can still imagine the adventure.

Travel Photos:

My Ice Skating Days

Nationals 1987, Salt Lake City, UT

Nationals 1987-2 Salt Lake City, UT

Nationals 1987 - Waiting for our Score

Precision Team 1989

Other Links & Photos