Lucy Oh, MD

	Joined Feb, 2001 Department: Family Medicine Services [Map] Title: Physician Degree: MD Interests: Piano, Dance: ballet, jazz, modern, Cycling with my husband: road and mountain. Physician Homepage
Bio Greetings! I am an internist here at Kaiser Santa Rosa. Internal Medicine is a field that specializes in the adult population (much like how a pediatrician specializes in children). I was born in the midwest, the youngest of three daughters to Korean immigrants. I grew up primarily in southern California, where I learned how to survive in the chaos of too many people. I finished my undergraduate degree in Biology with a minor in Dance at UC Irvine in 1990. I had a fantastic time there, probably mostly because of the incredible dance program at UCI, which is ranked somewhere in the top 3 in the nation. I spent the next 7 years at UCLA for medical school and residency. Those years are mostly a blur of late nights cramming and too much caffeine. But, wonderfully, that is where I met my future husband, who is an infectious diseases physician. Hey, if you can still love someone post-call, being without sleep for 36 hours, making life or death decisions, you know that it is meant to be forever. My husband, being from Arizona, despised the chaos of Los Angeles. So, when we were finished with training, we were off to the frontier of Wyoming for private practice opportunities. I still think some of the most beautiful parts of this country are out there and every winter is a tale of survival. Unfortunately, it can be a little scary for an Asian-American woman, so we returned, happily, to the comfort and diversity of California. We joined Kaiser Permanente in March 2001 with our young son, Matthew, who is all sweetness and sensitivity. A few years later, he was joined by his little sister, Lily, who is all firecracker. One of the major attractions to working here is the ability to have a personal life, to be able to have protected time with my family. And I think Kaiser Permanente appreciates that happier physicians are better physicians.
My Medical Specialty
More details about my specialty: It really is a privilege to be someone's personal physician, to know aspects of a person's life that no one else knows, to help someone find comfort not only with their life, but sometimes also with their death. I have come to realize that often, the physician can only do so much to change the life of a patient. People need to be equal participants. But I have been very surprised to find how gratifying it can be to help guide a patient toward their end of life. Dignity and compassion may sound trite, but, in the end, that is what we all hope to experience. My specialty interests and affiliations within my field: Probably partly because of my own physical background and interests, I really push my patients to improve their physical fitness. Certainly, maintaining healthy eating habits, moderate daily exercise and an ideal body weight would minimize the health problems of our society from obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and even stress and anxiety. Great health resources that I refer to: I'll often do a Google search in the exam room for patients to see how easy it is to obtain information about anything. But I try to choose information only from highly reputable sources. An interesting story from my training: I've never regretted leaving L.A. for life in a smaller town. I remember telling my fellow residents, who were all staying in the greater L.A. area, that I was leaving for world of private practice out in the frontier. They were all in agreement that I was crazy to leave the big city comforts behind. But when I told my experienced attending physician mentors, they were all in agreement that it was the smartest thing, to get out of the insanity.
Interests
As a child, I was forced by my Korean parents to learn to play the piano. While many hours were spent upset and frustrated about this, I'm actually quite glad that I learned. Of course, I plan on torturing my children with piano lessons in the future as well. I still enjoy dancing very much and try to take classes at SRJC as often as my schedule allows. There are some great teachers there. But it's hard to accept that I am twice as old as most of the students. I suppose it is just denial. Currently reading: just finished the latest Harry Potter installment My favorite book or author: Mark Twain -- he was just so darn funny Great movie: The March of the Penguins	Hobby Photos & Links: Gary and I biking with Levi Leipheimer for a Sonoma County Medical Association event
Family & Friends
People in my life: My husband and I met at UCLA in the intensive care unit, not the most romantic place. He is currently working as an Infectious Diseases physician and is the most generous-hearted, loving person I've ever known. My children and people I care about: We have two young children: Matthew is 9 and Lily is 4. As I've mentioned, Matthew is all sweetness and wears his heart out on his sleeve. Lily is all rascal, and I am certain, will be the end of me. An interesting story about my family or friends: We picked Maggie up while in private practice in Wyoming. A patient of mine came in one day trying to get rid of a puppy her daughter had brought home, and seeing that I am a sucker for puppies, brought it over. Of course, I fell in love with her. She had violet eyes, a Buddha belly, sweet puppy breath, and GIANT paws. My husband was happy she wasn't wimpy and didn't just piddle all over the place. She turned out to be the greatest dog. She's all love and affection, but very protective and very strong. And she's quite large. While out on hikes, some people have mistaken her for a horse. In the winter in Wyoming (where it can snow from October to June), we used to put doggy saddlebags on her, filled with cans of corn, and run her through waist-high snow for miles and miles. It would barely even tire her out. My son also has a gecko. We'll just leave it at that.	Lily
My pets: My first and only dog, Maggie, will be 10 years old in October 2007. She is half chocolate lab and half weimaraner.	Pet Photos: Matthew and Maggie Maggie tearing it up
Travel
An adventure I've had: While whitewater rafting in Idaho, some years ago, I got popped out of the boat in some wicked rapids along with our leader. He was upstream and could reach the raft pretty easily. Unfortunately, I was downstream and got pulled under. It felt like forever before I popped up again, only to be dragged back under for what felt like forever. They all thought I was dead, but I didn't endure all those years of piano for nothing, I say. Favorite place in the world: Disneyland. Disneyland. Disneyland. My husband rolls his eyes at me, but I only get tears when I walk through those gates. I used to work there dancing in the parades; I would play in the park everyday, and I still love it as much as my son does. One of my recent trips: Our most recent vacation was in Flagstaff, Arizona. Unfortunately, the grasshoppers had all just hatched, so there were about a hundred jumping around your legs with every step. We took our bikes with us and cycled to the top of the San Francisco Peaks, about 9,500 feet elevation. It was a killer with the elevation, but finally, by the 4th day, I did it!