Katherine Foster, MD

Bio

I was born in San Francisco, the second of nine children, and grew up in San Carlos. Our family joined Kaiser Permanente in 1949, and my parents take great pride in helping to get Kaiser Permanente started in its early days.

I attended Notre Dame High School in Belmont, where I learned to love science, good literature, and promised myself to visit Macchu Picchu before I was 50 (I made it!).

I started college at the University of San Francisco, as a math major, but left after 2 years to start my family. After having two sons, John in 1968 and Matt in 1970, I went back to school at UC Berkeley, this time as a pre-med, and graduated in 1974.

I was thrilled to attend UC San Francisco Medical School, back in the days when it was possible to graduate without a crushing debt. I found myself drawn to pediatrics, mostly because of the possibility of actually preventing diseases, and completed my pediatric residency at UCSF and Kaiser Permanente San Francisco in 1982, one year after giving birth to my third son, Brian.

I jumped at the opportunity to join Kaiser Santa Rosa in 1982 because I loved the scenery and climate of lovely Sonoma County, and I remain so grateful for the chance to live here.

After being a primary care pediatrician for 17 years, I left Kaiser Permanente in 1999 so that I could work part-time and indulge the deferred wish to do public health and world travel. I remained on the staff of the hospital as a "pool" doctor for 4 years, while teaching and serving as a First Five Commissioner. In 2003 I rejoined Kaiser Permanente as an associate, and now work part-time as a hospitalist for the Pediatric Department.

Besides working as a hospitalist here at Kaiser, I remain a commissioner for First Five Sonoma County. As a commissioner I have been involved in launching the Redwood Empire Dental Surgi-center, serve on the Healthy Kids Steering Committee, and other public health projects.

I have lived in Sebastopol since 1983 and have discovered the joys of designing and building one house, and completing a major remodel of another house. I relish being a grandmother, and try to spend as much time as possible with my 6 grandkids.

My Medical Specialty

More details about my specialty:

I love the challenges of both the science and the art of medicine. I love being part of the lives of people at critical moments, like when a baby is born, or when a child is sick.

My specialty interests and affiliations within my field:

I have been very active in the field of ethics in the past and remain interested in the field of palliative care. I have been very involved in public health through the First Five Commission, especially dental care services, peri-natal substance abuse, the expansion of needed services for children and advocating for children and families.

Current projects or research:

Developing a facility for sedated dental work for children, and helping to provide health insurance for children who currently do not have insurance. I am hoping to do research in the area of brain development and peri-natal substance abuse.

Great health resources that I refer to:

I frequently use the reference services of Kaiser's Clinical Library, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, and read their journal "Pediatrics". I also use "The Red Book" often, WebMD, and many reference materials in the hospital.

An interesting story from my training:

I was one of the first women at UCSF to get through residency with three children and helped my program at UCSF develop a way for two residents to share a position in order to work half-time. My family was one of several in a study of the effects of professional education on family life. None of us had been able to transcend "survival mode" during medical training.

Interests

Currently reading:
Playing for Pizza by John Grisham

My favorite book or author:
Barbara Tuchman

Great movie:
Shawshank Redemption

Family & Friends

People in my life:

I am married to Gary Boehmer, a social worker recently retired from a career with community care licensing. He works part-time for the State of California as a licensing consultant. He loves doing projects, especially with wood and landscaping; he is very handy, a great cook, gardener, biker, and jazz lover. He dreams of owning a boat, fly-fishing, traveling the world and mastering photography.

My children and people I care about:

My threes sons are all grown. John is a teacher of history and government at El Molino High School. He and his wife, Kristen, have 2 children, Zavier and Ava Katherine, and live in Sebastopol. They are currently in Northern Ireland on a Fulbright Teacher Exchange.

Matt had quite a run as a fund manager at Fidelity Investments and continues to manage investments. He and his wife, Kelly, have four children: George, twins Jimmy and Anna, and Sam, and live in Cohasset, Massachusetts.

Brian recently graduated from Harvard and lives in Manhattan. He is currently employed at JPMorganChase while he contemplates going to graduate school. He travels to London frequently as part of his job.

My step-son, Eric, recently married Phuong and lives in Santa Rosa. He is a student of Biology at Sonoma State.

My step-daughter, Krista, works here at Kaiser Permanente coordinating the volunteers and is married to Gordon, a policeman in Marin County.

An interesting story about my family or friends:

My son, John, lived in Poland for three years and became fluent in the language. He and Brian have become traveling buddies, having travelled together to some part of Latin America annually for 5 years running.
Matt was living close to the WTC towers but was in San Francisco on 9/11, having flown in the day before on United Flight 93. He was profoundly affected by the close-to-home nature of the tragedy.

Photos of my Family & Friends:

Gary and Me

My Grandchildren

My Three Sons

Matt and His Family

Jake is an 11-year-old West Highland Terrier, and he lives to go for walks and to visit Krista.

Travel

An adventure I've had:

After years of dreaming of visiting Macchu Picchu, I finally went there to celebrate my 50th birthday. I spent 4 days in the ruins and climbing Huaynu Picchu, where I felt like I was at the top of the world. I watched the full moon rise over the Andes with a Quechuan shaman in the Holy Square of Macchu Picchu. I felt transported to a place of total magic.

Favorite place in the world:

The fjords of Norway are the most breath-takingly beautiful places I have ever visited.

One of my recent trips:

I went to Indonesia with the Diving Docs on a ship called the "Sea Safari." We went four days at sea without seeing another sign of human life; not a boat, a light, a house, a plane, just one uninhabited island after another. I did not know there was a place that isolated on the face of the earth.

Travel Photos:

My Trip to Macchu Picchu