Konstantin Zaharoff, MD, MPH

Bio

I graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in Physiology in 1977. I then attended the School of Public Health at U.C. Berkeley, earning a Masters of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree in Environmental Toxicology/Industrial Hygiene. I worked several years as a Research Associate with the staff Industrial Hygienists on various research projects. By 1981, I was accepted into medical school at the University of California at Davis. After graduation in 1985, I completed a 3-year residency in Internal Medicine at the U.C.Davis Sacramento Medical Center. I am Board-Certified in Internal Medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine. I chose this specialty because I loved the idea of studying general medicine and not narrowing my focus too much.

I joined Kaiser Santa Rosa in 1988. Initially, I worked in the Department of Internal Medicine. But in 1993, I helped create the Occupational Medicine Clinic here on the Kaiser Santa Rosa campus. The clinic has grown steadily and I have worked full-time in Occupational Medicine for the past 8 years. The clinic has 7 physicians, 1 psychologist, 2 nurse practitioners, 4 physical therapists and many wonderful support staff. I am the Chief of the department. I will continue to practice medicine with Kaiser Permanente because of my belief that great team work will allow my patients to be at their healthiest.

Our clinic specializes in treating occupational injuries and illnesses. I utilize a sports medicine philosophy in helping injured workers to get back to their jobs as quickly and completely as possible.

The clinic also provides preventative services such as pre-placement exams, medical surveillance programs, work-site ergonomic assessments, respirator pulmonary function testing and health education classes.

I encourage you to fully explore all the links on my homepage. You will find information to help you get back to health and to keep you thriving. I have found the Healthy Living link especially helpful.

My Medical Specialty

More details about my specialty:

I received my medical training in the specialty of Internal Medicine. What is Internal Medicine? Internal medicine is concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of internal diseases, that is, those that affect internal organs or the body as a whole. A physician who practices internal medicine is, in the United States, an internist. Making a diagnosis requires meshing the description of a patient's symptoms with the doctor's knowledge of medical study.

Often it requires additional gathering of information through specific testing. I enjoy the CSI-like analysis of facts that is needed to come up with the correct answer to a problem. I also enjoy the challenge of interpreting scientific knowledge into a language that most people can understand and can use to make informed decisions about their own health.

My specialty interests and affiliations within my field:

While in college, I worked a few summers up at the geothermal fields at the Geysers in northern Sonoma County. I was studying physiology in college and began to wonder about the health effects of all the compounds that were being released from the steam wells. This interest led me to pursue a Master's of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree in Industrial Hygiene/Environmental Health. In practical terms, this interest was the genesis of my involvement with the Occupational Medicine clinic which I helped create in 1993.

Current projects or research:

Occupational Medicine usually involves treatment after an injury or exposure. From a public health standpoint, it is always better to prevent a problem rather than solve it after the fact. I have been working to develop a service called Occupational Health and Safety. These are employer-sponsored services that are designed to evaluate for potential health risks to current or potential employees. It can range from the traditional pre-employment physical, to complex government-mandated evaluations such as those required for public safety officers or hazardous material handlers.

An interesting story from my training:

My grandfather was a physician in Russia. When he escaped to this country, his poor English skills did not allow him to obtain a medical license. He worked as a janitor at the UC San Francisco Medical Center. Many of the UCSF workers called him "Dr. Zaharoff." When I first started practicing medicine in Santa Rosa, one of my patients remembered him from UCSF.

Well, of course my grandfather brought some of his tools and instruments with him and would practice his craft on friends and family. I remember watching him perform "cupping." This involved taking a small jelly-jar like glass container, wiping the inside with rubbing alcohol, lighting it afire and placing it on the skin over the involved body part.

The lack of oxygen made the flame go out quickly, never burning the skin. But in the process, a vacuum would be created and the skin would draw up into the glass ever so slightly. This would "draw the evil vapors out of the body." One would be left with numerous red circles on the chest and upper back if you were being treated for a chest cold or pneumonia.

Fast forward to one night when I was the Resident on-call at a busy urban county hospital. I was called down to admit a semi-conscious man for observation because no one in the Emergency department could figure out what was wrong with him after quite an extensive work-up, including a head CT. Of course, his friends had just "dropped him off" and there was no history to give any clues.

As I entered his room, I immediately noticed one large circular mark on his forehead. I remembered from watching my grandfather that someone must have performed "cupping" on him. If it was on his forehead.... he must have had a headache. If he had a headache and now he was barely conscious, he must have...I quickly had him rolled on his side and obtained a sample of cerebrospinal fluid from his back. And yes, he had bacterial meningitis which was successfully treated with high-dose intravenous antibiotics.

Interests

Currently reading:
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

My favorite book or author:
Carl Hiaasen

Hobby Photos & Links:

It's not as bad as it looks, right......?

This is how I hope it turns out

Family & Friends

Travel

An adventure I've had:

Perhaps my favorite adventure was exploring my family's cultural roots. My parents were born in the old Soviet Union. With their families, they survived Stalin and then World War II. They met as students attending U.C.Berkeley. After the fall of the Soviet regime, my mother started organizing humanitarian aid. She would travel to Russia to make sure the aid was getting delivered to the orphanages. After a while, my parents started to bring their kids to see Russia. First they brought my sister, myself and my wife. Two years later, my brother and his wife. Later still, they took my son and my nephew, and so on.

We traveled on our own, staying with people that my mother had met during her previous aid work. It was a great way to get a sense of Russia and it's emerging democracy. In St.Peterburg, we were taken into the archives of the Naval Medical School and shown the handwritten ledger documenting my grandfather's graduation. Although no relatives remain in Russia, the trip allowed me to feel connected to its land and people. But every day I still mentally thank my brave grandparents and marvel over their decision to embark on the difficult journey to California.

Favorite place in the world:

My favorite place in the world has to be Hawaii. My eyes get a dreamy faraway look as I think of the way the islands soothe my soul. I can feel the tension melt away as I step off the airplane. I spend hours every day bobbing in the ocean at the breaker line, teasing the waves. Every once in a while, I let them take me and whisk me to shore. More hours are spent snorkeling or diving in the warm blue waters. Sometimes you can hear the distant songs of the humpback whales. We will walk long distances over lava fields with our masks, fins and snorkels just to get to a secluded spot. As I write this, my mind can clearly see the busy underwater current of life that thrives among the reefs of Hawaii.

One of my recent trips:

We like to spend a week every August up in Gold Beach, Oregon. My sister-in-law and her husband live there. He grew up there and used to pilot the big jet boats up the Rogue River. The southern Oregon coast is a beautiful mosaic of seashore, coastal mountains and various-sized flowing rivers. They create micro-climates starting at the cold breezy coastline. As you drive up the river, the temperature climbs 60, 70, 80, 90 and finally at Agness, which is 30 miles up river, the thermometer hits 100. Just stop along the river at whatever temperature you like.

Along the coast, we hiked, rode horses, went crabbing and rock fishing. At the mouth of the river we tried our luck at salmon fishing. Further up river, we would spend a very lazy day on a secluded sandy river bank. Other days, on the smaller creeks and river, we would explore swimming holes and rope swings. Every night we would feast, courtesy of the bounty of the land and sea.