Kristin Steuerle, MD

Bio

Greetings! I came to Kaiser in September 2007 after serving in the US Navy for 7 years. I received all my training in the Navy, where they count on you to be able to treat adults and children alike in remote locations, and am grateful for the outstanding education I received. I joined the Navy to serve my country and for the opportunity to travel and learn things that I could not have learned on the outside. In 2001-2002, I had the great honor of serving with the Marines in Okinawa, Japan; during that year I treated active duty Marines in Japan, Korea, Thailand, and Micronesia. In Micronesia I was the lead medical officer for the 5th annual Micronesian games -- a small-scale Olympics for the Micronesian Islands. It's hard to say what my favorite memory is -- appearing in the local paper treating an 18 year old patient who had never seen a doctor in his life; putting an IV in a woman who had had a seizure in the middle of a canoe race (and watching my corpsmen jump in and save her) with everyone watching on the beach; hearing how one of my corpsman had saved a wrestler's life when he got stung by a bee; or the mouse we found living in the quarters we were provided. I've got all sorts of other interesting stories, but back to pediatrics.

Prior to coming to Kaiser, I served as a pediatrician in South Carolina for 3 years and was also the department head there -- the military puts you in new and challenging but rewarding positions young. I think maybe I was meant to be a pediatrician, though I didn't always know this. After college, I taught 8th grade earth science and coached field hockey and basketball at a private school in Oklahoma City. The gentleman who helped me get the job told me my personality was perfectly suited for middle school, and I really did love the age. It was a wonderful year of fun -- and growth. My mentor at the school told me that I needed to go to medical school, and then my mentors in medical school told me I had the "sparkle" of a pediatrician. I haven't regretted my choice of specialties.

Within pediatrics, I started as a hybrid pediatrician, seeing patients in the clinic and the hospital, but two things prompted me to switch to full time hospital work in 2010: the birth of my own daughter in late 2009, and the new opportunity to teach medical students and residents during my hospital work. My new schedule allows me a fantastic balance of time with family and time doing what I love, building relationships with families and patients and teaching up and coming doctors how to optimally care for children. I consider it a great privilege to help care for another person's child.

Outside of work I enjoy spending time with my husband, daughter friends and family and I love to travel. I enjoy spending time outdoors and most things athletic, and participated in triathlon prior to having my daughter. I expect to get back to this and perhaps music (piano, singing) again as my daughter gets older.

I look forward to serving you and your children.

My Medical Specialty

Interests

Currently reading:
teen fiction -- it is shorter so I can get through it

My favorite book or author:
Anne Perry, Jane Austen, children's books

Great movie:
Something the Lord Made

Hobby Photos & Links:

Starting the Chicago Triathlon -- pink caps at the start

Family & Friends

People in my life:

My husband Kevin and I love to travel, workout together, race, play games, and have fun.

My children and people I care about:

Sophia is determined, bright, fun, athletic, and most of all sweet (most of the time, she's 2)

None

Travel

An adventure I've had:

I've had many an adventure but my time with the military in Asia was not just a job, it was an adventure.

Favorite place in the world:

Way too hard to say. The best and most reasonably priced food was in Thailand, I loved everything about living in Japan for a year, I can't get enough of our National Parks, and my summer in Europe was unbeatable. But perhaps my favorite place is Alexandria, VA, my hometown.

One of my recent trips:

My most memorable and biggest trip was the 4000 mile drive across country, starting in Bethany Beach, DE where my family has vacationed for years, and ending at the very cold Pacific Ocean here in Northern California. We visited family along the way, I participated in the Chicago triathlon, and then we hit Badlands, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and many other wonders. But perhaps the most entertaining story of the trip was the mouse that ate the breakfast that was sitting in our car while we camped near Devil's Tower, Wyoming. We got to see it get out at the steak restaurant we stopped at for dinner. Better food I guess.