David Bennett, MD

Bio

I have been working at Kaiser Santa Rosa for 20 years. I did my residency training at the San Francisco Kaiser Permanente facility. I chose to continue with Kaiser Permanente because I valued the all inclusive aspect of the care.

I enjoy my role as educator with patients. Many aspects of medicine (and particularly obstetrics) are not set in stone. Many times, it is up to the patient to choose between options for care. It is my job (and pleasure) to educate patients about these choices and help them pick which is best for them.

Many of my patients have young children. We enjoy sharing child-rearing stories and tips with each other.

My Medical Specialty

More details about my specialty:

When I was in my third year of medical school, I took care of a young pregnant couple several nights in a row. We really hit it off, and by the time the woman finally went into labor, she asked if I would be her doctor! I was touched and thrilled by the personal connection we developed. This really galvanized my desire to go into obstetrics. This story happened over 20 years ago, and I remember it like it was yesterday.

My specialty interests and affiliations within my field:

I had the good fortune to be trained by experts in the field of genital prolapse. I continue to perform much of the prolapse surgery for our department.
In addition, I have been trained and begun to perform laparoscopic hysterectomies. This allows patients to go home the same day, and back to work in as little as two weeks!

In order to advance my surgical practice, I have stopped working regular shifts in Labor and Delivery.

Great health resources that I refer to:

The Pause by Loni Barbach

What to Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff

Interests

Great movie:
Into the Wild

Family & Friends

People in my life:

I am a single father of 3 teenaged boys. I couldn't ask for better kids!

I have always believed that our job as parents is not to raise good children, but to raise good adults. I am so happy to feel like I have achieved that!

Travel

One of my recent trips:

I recently took a trip to Cabo, Mexico. In fact, we were there during Hurricane Jimenez! Lost power and water for a few hours, but very exciting. Was able to scuba dive, swim, and do ziplines through the jungle when the rain and wind stopped.