I graduated from Point Loma Nazarene College (now University) in San Diego in 1990 with a B.A. in biology. I attended Ross University School of Medicine and graduated in 1996. I did my Family Practice residency at University Medical Center here in Fresno and was chief resident in my final year. I am board-certified by the American Board of Family Practice and I am a proud member of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. I provide all aspects of family medicine except one: I do not deliver babies (I like to sleep sometime!). I have 3 children ranging in age from 10 to 22.

Before becoming a physician, I served in the U.S. Army in military intelligence (yes, I know the joke) as a Soviet military analyst and Russian linguist, working for the National Security Agency, and I was trained in the Russian language at Defense Language Institute, Foreign Language Center in Presidio of Monterey, California. I served at a strategic listening post in Augsburg (Field Station Augsburg), (West) Germany, for three years until I was honorably discharged in 1983. While there, I became interested in medicine and became cross-trained as an Emergency Medical Technician and my interest in medicine as a whole blossomed from there.

My hobbies include reading philosophical and theological studies, studying innovative medical techniques, struggling with my askesis through my Eastern Orthodox Christian faith and spending time with my children. I am engaged to be married to a beautiful Russian woman who is a professor of Church Slavonic at St. Tikhon Orthodox University in Moscow, Russian Federation, and she will immigrate to here in early 2011.

My philosophy about medicine is that being a board-certified Family Practitioner, it allows me the freedom to perform many different procedures and I was trained in managing many different chronic illnesses. My policy is that I will refer you to a specialist when I feel that your condition is reaching the limits of my knowledge base.

I believe that the best way to get the most out of our relationship is to work as a team. I do not believe in the "paternalistic" model of medicine in which you, the patient, did everything the doctor told you to do without question. You are paying me for my knowledge, skill, and expertise in practicing medicine but ultimately it is YOUR decision as to what to do. I also believe in simple honesty in our relationship. I will always try to be tactful but if I must make a point that is important and I want to be sure that I am not misunderstood, I will be blunt (at least politely blunt).

However, there is one aspect that I will place all of the responsibility upon YOU. If you leave my office confused and not understanding what I explained to you, YOU did not do the right thing. I demand that you stop me ANYTIME that you do not understand something that I have said so that I may explain it to you further or in different terms. If you do not understand what is wrong with your body, how can you be expected to participate fully in your care?

Finally, there are times when I may be running late seeing you for your scheduled appointment. I will apologize in advance; however, I spend whatever time is necessary with my patients and sometimes that is quick and other times it is longer than what was scheduled. I know that this may be frustrating to you, but imagine you are the patient that I need to spend extra time with, e.g., a new diagnosis of diabetes or cancer, or you have multiple questions about your complex medical condition. Would you want me to rush you out of my office because you were "over" the 30 minutes of scheduled time? So please be understanding. If you feel that you cannot wait, then I would ask that you not begin treatment here and seek care elsewhere, it would be very frustrating for you as well as frustrating for us. I will always try and make sure that your visit is well worth the wait.