Laura Westerling, MD

Bio

I grew up in Kingsburg, California which a small farming town near Fresno. I attended UCLA for college then went across town to the University of Southern California for medical school. In case you are wondering, I cheer for the Bruins at sporting events! After medical school I spend a year working at Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles for my intership in internal medicine. I found Kaiser to be a wonderful place to work. I really liked how integrated the health care was and how much cooperation and teaching took place between specialities. I also think the emphasis on preventative care at Kaiser is very important in keeping people healthy. After my internship, I returned to UCLA for my dermatology residency and decided to do an extra year of training in dermatopathology, which is the study of skin pathology. I practiced as UCLA faculty for a year, then decided to come back to Kaiser. After spending 16 years in Los Angeles, I was ready to experience Northern California and moved with my family to Santa Rosa.

When I am not at work, I enjoy spending time with my daughter and my husband. We love going to the mountains at Huntington Lake. It is a beautiful place and I enjoy hiking. One of the things we have enjoyed very much about living in Sonoma county is all of the beautiful places there are to explore.

I also enjoy cooking, probably because I love to eat good food. We try to go to the Farmer's Market for fresh, seasonal fruit and vegetables every week. My favorite food is my husband's homemade pizza.

I am an avid reader. I enjoy reading fiction and mysteries, although lately I have been reading some non-fiction as well.

My Medical Specialty

Interests

Family & Friends

People in my life:

I met my husband in medical school. We got married on the beach in Hawaii in 2006. He is a dermatologist at Kaiser in Santa Rosa too. We enjoy working together and often collaborate on figuring out difficult diagnoses or managing challenging problems.

My children and people I care about:

I have one amazing, spirited, and wonderful daughter. She was born in 2008 and has made my life happier and richer ever since.

I have one cat named Jasmine. She is sweet, although quite lazy and enjoys laying on her back with all four feet in the air.

Travel

Favorite place in the world:

My favorite place in the world is Huntington Lake, California. My grandpa built a very rustic, small cabin there in the 1940's. I have been there at least once every summer of my life and have many happy memories there of sailing, hiking and spending time with friends and family.

One of my recent trips:

My husband and I traveled to New Zealand in 2007. We had a wonderful time hiking on the Queen Charlotte track on the South Island. New Zealand was an incredibly beautiful place.