As part of a project to bring the St. Vincent de Paul clinic to life through art that was first envisioned by Dr. Melissa Deer, Dr. David Villasenor created "St. Vincent de Paul Consultation."  The painting represents the connection between physician and patient and commonality that exists between human beings...  The project hopes to bring themed art into the clinical environment though David's painting may find itself in the program director's office who has taken a liking to it.

Thank you David for this heartfelt contribution to the program and to our clinic!

Kelley DeLeeuw comes to us from Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico having grown up in the San Diego area. She earned her undergraduate degree from Duke University in Latin American Studies and Health Policy and her MPH from the University of North Carolina. Her research has focused on addressing ethno-cultural factors in preventive health strategies among disadvantaged youth and she has written extensively in this area. She has excelled throughout medical school and was an Alpha Kappa Pi inductee. She speaks Spanish and Portuguese and enjoys the outdoors and teaching Capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian art form that makes a ritual of movements from martial arts, games, and dance.

Dorothy Liu will earn her medical degree from the University of California at Irvine and earned her undergraduate degree in Psychobiology from the University of California, Los Angeles. Dorothy has a strong interest in international health and has worked and volunteered in clinics and orphanages in Honduras and Gutaemala where she also did research in the area of diabetes education. She loves music and has played piano since she was 4 and composes music as well. In medical school, she formed “Bamboo Smoothie” a band playing locally and at weddings.

Congratulations to Dr. Luis Sandoval who recently received the John Majda Foundation Award in recognition and support of his ongoing research looking at the impact of the therapeutic relationship and specific interventions on the part of the caregiver on patients who present with active suicidal ideation.  Dr. Sandoval has taken it upon himself to explore this important element of suicide prevention and we are incredibly proud of his initiative and the well-deserved recognition and support that this award brings. 

Dr. Searles and the RecreationRx.org initiative have been awarded a Physicians for Healthy Communities Mini-Grant by the California Medical Association Foundation to support obesity prevention advocacy and outreach programs that enhance the well-being of California’s communities. The grant will be used to develop and enhance “starter kits” to help communities develop recreation prescription programs in their area for underserved families!

Click Here to read about the RecRx program in the San Diego Union-Tribune...

Click Here to read an article about the RecRx program in San Diego Physician magazine...