The Beginning...

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." - Lao Tzu

So, how did it all begin?  In short, I went to the University of California of San Diego, for my undergraduate degree in biology and followed up with a masters degree in applied physiology and biophysics at Georgetown University.  I then matriculated into Georgetown University, School of Medicine, for my medical doctorate and completed a 3 year residency in pediatrics at Phoenix Children's Hospital/Maricopa County Medical Center and a 3 year fellowship in pediatric critical care medicine at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.  After 16 years of education and training, I was ready to be an attending physician!

During my post-trainee career, I worked at Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA Medical Center in their general pediatric and pediatric cardiothoracic ICUs for 3 years and, then, moved back to Children's Hospital Los Angeles to work primarily in the pediatric cardiothoracic ICU.  The general pediatric ICU takes care of all children with critical illness from acute respiratory failure to sepsis to cardiogenic shock and more.  The pediatric cardiothoracic ICU focuses on taking care children with congenital or acquired heart disease that require either surgical or medical management.  During my tenure at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, the ICU group was contracted to work at City of Hope (speciality oncology hospital for adults and children) and Los Robles Medical Center (a community hospital).  So, I was able to participate in caring for critically ill children in a community pediatric ICU and specialized oncology ICU as well.

In 2015, my wife and I opened a pediatric urgent care facility (MVP Pediatric and Urgent Care) to care for infants, children, and young adults with medical issues that were acute, but not life threatening, in the community.  We provided services to try and prevent an ER visit and took care of everything from lacerations to ear infections, broken bones to breathing treatments, and IV fluids to foreign body removals.  In 2021, our practice was acquired by PM Pediatrics.  However, I still provide urgent care services for PM Pediatrics

I have been an educator throughout my career in the pediatric ICU, educating pediatric residents, pediatric critical care fellows, and my peers.  During my clinical experience in the urgent care setting, I saw further educational opportunities.  So, I started my journey of educating and advocating for children's health for families in the community through social medial and other mediums.  This blog is the first step of another journey into the educational and advocacy space to bring my perspective in acute medical care for children further into the community.  My hope is that this first step is followed by a thousand mile journey of education that the community values and finds helpful.