Laura O'Connor, MD

Bio

I was born in San Francisco and raised in Daly City, the youngest of three girls. My father was in construction in the heyday of "tall buildings" in the city. My mom, a teacher, stayed at home with us. When I was fifteen, we moved to Penngrove and I attended Rancho Cotati High School (any pictures of my cheerleading should be destroyed!). I loved living in the Sonoma County of the 1970s; we had acreage where I had sheep and a horse. We were Kaiser Permanente members then, yet the closest clinic was downtown San Rafael (the old buildings!). I was active in 4-H as well as in my high school. I went on to the University of California, Davis, with the intent of becoming a veterinarian.

College presented many other opportunities and I wanted to try them all! Since I enjoyed biochemistry, I decided to major in Nutrition Sciences, which was then a very young discipline. But I also loved Anthropology and had considered that field as well. My most formative experience was in 1980, attending the University of Sussex in England during my Junior Year. It was during that year that I first considered being a physician because I wanted to blend my interests in bioscience and anthropology (the study of people and cultures). It was to be some four years until I would enter medical training.(These years involved a combination of waitressing and volunteer health-care-related jobs!)

I enrolled in the Joint Medical Program in 1984. This continues to be a unique program in which the first three "preclinical" years are at University of California, Berkeley, and the last two "clinical" at UC San Francisco. I completed a concurrent masters from Berkeley in Health and Medical Sciences; my research for my thesis was in medical anthropology. I studied the different viewpoints of diabetes in members of one Latino community and conducted research in Salinas, California in 1987.

With my interests towards integrating the "biochemistry" and "anthropology" of medicine, I knew after my research summer in Salinas that I wanted to be a family physician.

I met my husband while at University of California Berkeley, where he was a graduate student in the Forestry Department. (He is the other doctor in the house. . . of Forestry.) During one busy week in 1989, I graduated from UCSF, got married and moved to Seattle, where I did my residency in Family Medicine at Group Health Cooperative (now Group Health Permanente). My first position after graduation was at Group Health in Seattle where I did full service including obstetrics!

But the weather and the longing for my family brought us back to Northern California. I was lucky to join Kaiser Permanente in 2000. With my own preference for integrating the science and art of medicine in daily practice, Kaiser Permanente has an integrated system which supports my professional interests and practice style.

My Medical Specialty

More details about my specialty:

My three-year residency training in Family Medicine included adult internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, minor surgery and special emphasis in other sub-specialties such as dermatology. Just as importantly, my training emphasized consideration of the psychological, cultural and spiritual aspects of human illness and wellness. Family practitioners look at the person as not only a member of their family but also of their community and their culture. Each patient has a full life with many roles and demands. I work hard to tailor my medical knowledge and recommendations to "work" for each patient's situation. This is the challenging task of family practice which I find so rewarding.

At Kaiser Permanente, I have the support to practice in the manner that I was trained (though I no longer deliver babies or perform minor surgery!). I can refer patients to Health educators to work on their smoking cessation, their nutrition and other healthy habits. There are wonderful clinical social workers in the FMS department who can help me address a patient's spiritual or psychological pain and difficulties. I can call my specialist colleagues to discuss a question or to refer patients directly. Family practice is "patient centered" and that is how our services here at Kaiser Permanente are evolving.

Interests

Currently reading:
eat.pray.love by Elizabeth Gilbert

My favorite book or author:
Recent favorites are Reading Lolita in Tehran, Dragon Rider (childrens novel), Patron Saint of Liara and all Harry Potter books

Great movie:
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (my favorite of the series); Pride and Prejudice (the 2005 version)

Hobby Photos & Links:

We were there the night Barry Bonds hit #756!

Family & Friends

People in my life:

My husband, Matt, holds a doctorate in Fluvial geomorphology from the University of Washington. He has a small consulting business near our home. Our life outside work largely revolves around our sons Trevor (age 14) and Christopher (age 11). We are both involved in our local public schools as well as the boys' sports and drama/acting activities. We all like to hike and ski and watch movies!

My children and people I care about:

My father was educated through high school but remains one of the most intelligent and curious people I know. Because he was a carpenter, he fancied that he could also "fix" things medically. With childhood injuries, he would explain the process to me and marvel in how amazing the body was at "repairing itself." I do recall fearing the application of his orange methiolate and other concoctions left over from his WWII Marine Corp bag. He cured several styes by rubbing a gold ring on them. To date, no one can remove a splinter or a tick as delicately as my father.
My father valued education and one goal was to have all of his daughters complete their college degrees. He remains curious, analytical and, at 85, still loves to learn new things. I can only hope to pass this curiosity about the world to my sons.

An interesting story about my family or friends:

My mother is from rural Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. She is the only one that has left that area, having met my father at the USO and moved to San Francisco in 1945. I have a large and extended family in Northern Virginia. In 2003, we attended the 90th birthday celebration of my Aunt Kathryn, with whom I share a birthday. She has a farm that I used to visit in my childhood. Having grown up on the transient West Coast, it is always good to visit my relatives who live in the same houses as our forbearers. Some of them look like me too!

I have always had cats and can recall all of them with fondness. We have had Harry and Seeker for four years. They came to us from one of the Kaiser medical assistants. They are twin orange tigers and they love our boys!

Pet Photos:

Our cats, Harry and Seeker, May 2007

Travel

An adventure I've had:

My then boyfriend, now husband, is an avid skier. We were students in the 1980's and could afford and preferred cross-country skiing. On Christmas Eve 1985, we skied 10 miles into the back country of Yosemite to the Ostrander Lake "hut". Problem was that I was not a very good skier. There had been little snow in the preceding weeks, so the conditions were icy. I was a medical student at the time and, though a runner, was not in great condition.

In the final hours of that day in the dark, I recall sliding back a step for every two up. I threw down my backpack and took off my skis, threatening to go back by foot. Luckily, my husband is an excellent navigator and a patient man. At the top of that rise, we saw the lights of the hut. The next few days were spent in a sun-drenched Winter Wonderland. We did the trip again several years later with more conditioning and better equipment. Great! I would highly recommend that trip.

One of my recent trips:

In August 2006, we went to England and Wales. We did the usual tourist sites but especially enjoyed North Wales. This is where my father's family was from and my sons enjoyed seeing that heritage.

Travel Photos:

Yosemite back country skiing 1987

Trip Photos:

Conwy, Wales, July 2006

Cambridge, England, August 2006

Other Links & Photos