Gary Green, MD

Bio

I was born and raised in sunny Phoenix, Arizona. My father is English and Irish, my mother is Mexican. I enjoyed growing up in a large family of seven kids (six boys and only one girl) living in a modest home with only one bathroom. My childhood memories are wonderful, filled with family vacations, hunting expeditions with my father and brothers, the best homemade Mexican food, lots of chaos during the holidays and hot summer months.

I attended college in the cooler area of Flagstaff at Northern Arizona University. After college I attended Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, DC. These were wonderful and exciting years living in such an influential and international political city. I purposely choose Jesuit (Catholic) Medical School so I would continue to grow as a complete person, not just a scientist. During medical school I became interested in the specialties of Infectious Diseases and in Medical Genetics. During my Internal Medicine Training at the Medical Center of Delaware, I knew Infectious Diseases was my greatest interest when I cared for a patient returning from India with severe malaria. I then completed my Infectious Diseases fellowship training at UCLA.

My wife and I joined Kaiser Permanente in March of 2001. We had spent six years in private practice enjoying the challenges of medicine. We joined Kaiser Permanente so that we could improve our quality of life as a well-balanced family. I believe I can be a more effective physician by continuing to be balanced and well-rounded. I do not take pride in being a physician; rather, I feel it is an honor to walk with patients during times in life that are punctuated by illness and sometimes suffering.

My Medical Specialty

More details about my specialty:

Infectious Diseases is a challenging and enjoyable specialty. Most of the time it entails being a detective to find the cause of mysterious groups of symptoms. It also encompasses HIV medicine, International Travel Medical advice, Wilderness Medicine and the care of patients who have infectious complications from very weakened immune systems (such as cancer chemotherapy or organ transplantation). A significant proportion of time is also spent with our county Public Health Department on preparing for various possible infections ranging from Bioterrorism, West Nile Virus, Lyme disease and Pandemic Influenza.

My specialty interests and affiliations within my field:

American Board of Internal Medicine
American Society of Microbiology
American College of Physicians
Infectious Diseases Society of Medicine

Current projects or research:

West Nile Virus treatment using high-titre immune globulin for encephalitis or acute flacid paralysis.

Multiple publications on HIV relating to treatment, neurologic complications, surgical complications and interactions with illicit street drugs.

I was given an award by the Sonoma County Public Health Department in 2003 for educational presentation on Bioterrorism after 9/11.

Great health resources that I refer to:

Center for Disease Control
National Institute of Health
Sonoma County Public Health Department
California Department of Health Services

An interesting story from my training:

During my second year as a internal medicine resident at the Medical Center of Delaware, I cared for a patient returning from India with a high fever. The patient thought his Lymphoma (a form of cancer) was returning, but his blood smear showed parasites inside his red blood cells that we identified as Malaria. His parasite counts were dangerously high and his chances of survival were guarded. The infectious diseases specialist called the CDC for a restricted medicine (quinine) and initiated a treatment that required removing the patient's blood volume, washing away the blood parasite, then giving it back to the patient (called exchange transfusion). This saved the patient's life and cured the infection. This case was so stimulating that I pursued this specialty and have enjoyed every minute since.

Interests

Currently reading:
I enjoy reading Outside Magazine and Bicycle magazine. However, I spend most of my time with medical journals like JAMA, The New England Journal of Medicine, and Clinical Infectious Diseases.

My favorite book or author:
One of my favorite books is The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.

Great movie:
The Cinderella Man

Hobby Photos & Links:

Family & Friends

People in my life:

My wife is an internist at the Kaiser Santa Rosa Medical Center. We met as she started her Internal Medicine training at UCLA and I was starting my Infectious Diseases fellowship. Our marriage and our family are the central focus of our lives. We joined Kaiser Permanente so we could balance our marriage and our growth as a family without increasing demands from private practice.

My children and people I care about:

We are a very happy family with a young son and a younger sister. Our little girl was born at the Kaiser Santa Rosa Medical Center. We enjoy watching our children grow and try to be a part of their lives as much as possible. We hike and bicycle often with our children. I have coached my son's soccer team and T-ball team. My wife has volunteered in the classroom for our son and helped teach dance in his elementary school.

An interesting story about my family or friends:

A month before I was married I was invited to bicycle through southern Spain. A close friend and Infectious Diseases colleague of mine let me borrow a bicycle. On day one, we were going downhill in a small village when we almost crashed together. I hit my front brake, flew over the handlebars, landed on my head and smashed my helmet. In the split second while I was flying through the air, I wondered if this region of Spain had a neurosurgeon who could take care of head injuries. My physician colleague later told me that the reason he was so relieved that I was not injured was that he was too afraid of my wife to give her bad news one month before our wedding. My wife, my friend and I still laugh about this today.

Photos of my Family & Friends:

my wife, Dr. Lucy Oh

Halloween with the kids

We have a wonderful large dog named Maggie. She is a 90 pound mix of Weimeraner and chocolate Lab. She is loving, gentle and protective of our family. We acquired her in Wyoming and used many cans of tomato juice washing off the smell of skunk from her after many adventures.

Travel

An adventure I've had:

I think it is important to put goals ahead of yourself. Medical School was one of these for me. Another goal, as I became a more avid bike rider, was to ride my bike up the volcano Haleakala on Maui. My wife and I had never been to Hawaii before and we were traveling there for a family wedding. I knew it was popular to pay a company to drive you up to the top of the volcano and let you bike down. But I read in a bicycle magazine of someone biking up it: 10,032 feet of elevation gain in about 36 miles. Each day I looked up at the volcano, and the storm clouds prevented me from starting. But on the last day of our vacation, the day of the afternoon wedding, I looked at the volcano at 7AM and there were no storm clouds.

I asked my father-in-law to drive me to the bottom of the volcano and drop me off. I think he thought I was crazy. 10,032 feet and 6 hours and fifteen minutes later I reached the top. At some places I was so tired and breathless (from the altitude) that I did not know if I could finish. Then I told myself that I should be thankful for my health and any strength I had. I began a mantra of saying thanks for every turn of the pedals and that I would be satisfied with however far I was able to bike. The next thing I knew, my wife drove up and said, "You're only a quarter mile from the top." She also said, "Hurry, or we will be late for the wedding." I give thanks for days like that.

Favorite place in the world:

One of my favorite places in the world is the desert surrounding Phoenix after a desert thunderstorm. What is often barren and blistering hot comes alive with vibrant smells, colors and animals after a rain shower. The power of a rolling desert thunderstorm matches the searing heat of the Arizona desert. In a place that can be dangerously hot in the summer, Life continues on in such beauty.

One of my recent trips:

I proposed to my wife in Switzerland on a mountain Alp near the city of Lucern. There is a beautiful and enormous carving in the side of a mountain there known as "the Lucern lion." Across a lake you can view a lion laying on its side, dying, with a spear in its side. The lion represents a Swiss knight, guarding the Queen of France centuries ago. The Swiss knight defended her to the end, and his bravery, courage and commitment are represented as the lion. I was deeply moved by this sculpture in granite. At that minute, I hoped I could be a lion for my new fiancee as we began our journey in life facing many challenges before us.

Travel Photos:

Biking on Maui Volcano

Other Links & Photos