Contributors to This Issue

Vanessa Walker, DO
After many years, the Medical Board is finally removing questions regarding mental health from license applications. Dr. Walker explains why this is a step forward and will lift a stigma.
Aileen E. Wetzelf, Executive Director
The campaign for Proposition 35, the Protect Access to Health Care initiative, is in the final sprint toward election day. Your involvement and support is more critical than ever towards its passage.
Caroline Giroux, MD
Pippi Longstocking. Hygge. The Little Mermaid. Thanks to a recent conference, Dr. Giroux recently visited Scandinavia, a place she always saw as magical. Norway, Sweden and Denmark didn't disappoint.
Eric Williams, MD
Doctors care for their patients; that's what we're trained to do and why we're in medicine. But when a diagnosis shook his own life, Dr. Williams started to wonder: Who takes care of the caregivers? .
Andrew Hudnut, MD
Knowing what “part-time” really means would have been helpful 30 years ago, Dr. Hudnet says in the latest What I Wish I Knew, adding community service and spirituality make him a happier clinician,
David Hsu, MD
History is filled with troublemakers who have changed the world, and Dr. Hsu says that although courage isn't in our oath it's essential to stand up for your patients — and yourself — when the moment calls.
Katherine Stewart, MD
Kitty Stewart isn't just a physician, she's also a Master Gardener recognized by the University of California. Horticulture therapy, she says, can help patients instill calm and lead to physical recovery.
All articles are copyrighted for publication in this magazine and on the Society’s website. Contact the Sierra Sacramento Valley Medical Society for permission to reprint.
Cover photo: Fall comes to the Sacramento Valley. Photo by Karen Poirier-Brode, MD.
Editorial Committee
Megan Babb, DO
Sean Deane, MD
Mohammadomid Edrissian, MD
Caroline Giroux, MD
Manoj Kesarwani, MD
Robert LaPerriere, MD
Teimour Nasirov, MD
Karen Poirier-Brode, MD
Gerald Rogan, MD
Leslie Tamura, DO
Glennah Trochet, MD
Lee Welter, MD
Eric Williams, MD
Medical Student Representatives

Aileen E. Wetzel, Executive Director
Ken Smith, Managing Editor
To easily email an author, click on their picture on the contributors page or in their article.

Volume 75/Number 5
Official publication of the
Sierra Sacramento Valley Medical Society
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Sierra Sacramento Valley Medicine (ISSN 0886 2826) is published bimonthly by the Sierra Sacramento Valley Medical Society, 5380 Elvas Ave., Sacramento, CA 95819. Subscriptions are $26.00 per year. Periodicals postage paid at Sacramento, CA and additional mailing offices. Correspondence should be addressed to Sierra Sacramento Valley Medicine, 5380 Elvas Ave., Sacramento, CA 95819-2396. Telephone (916) 452-2671.
2024 Officers & Board of Directors
Vanessa Walker, DO, President
Adam Dougherty, MD, President-Elect
J. Bianca Roberts, MD,
Immediate Past President
District 1
Lisa Guirguis, MD
District 2
Sarah Barnhard, MD
Janine Bera, MD
Raminder Gill, MD
Eli Groppo, MD
District 3
Tom Valdez, MD
District 4
Shideh Chinichian, MD
District 5
Olana Aberra, MD
Christina Bilyeu, MD
John Coburn, MD
Roderick Vitangcol, MD
District 6
Karen Hopp, MD
2024 CMA Delegation
Delegates
District 1
Reinhardt Hilzinger, MD
District 2
Lydia Wytrzes, MD
District 3
Tom Valdez, MD
District 4
Anand Mehta, MD
District 5
Sean Deane, MD
District 6
Karen Hopp, MD
At-Large Delegates
Sharmila Amolik, MD
Barbara Arnold, MD
Megan Babb, DO
Janine Bera, MD
Christina Bilyeu, MD
Christine Braid, DO
Carol Burch, MD
Amber Chatwin, MD
Angelina Crans Yoon, MD
Mark Drabkin, MD
Ann Gerhardt, MD
Douglas Gibson, MD
Raminder Gill, MD
Helena Hart-Rathbun
Brent Jackson, MD
Richard Jones, MD
Steven Kmucha, MD
Hao (Harry) Li, MD
Vong Lee, MD
Charles McDonnell, MD
Leena Mehta, MD
Sandra Mendez, MD
Richard Pan, MD
Siddharth Raghavan, MD
Ernesto Rivera, MD
J. Bianca Roberts, MD
Ellen Shank, MD
Ajay Singh, MD
Lee Snook, MD
Roderick Vitangcol, MD
Vanessa Walker, DO
Anna Yap, MD
Alternate Delegates
District 1
Dana Jacques, MD
District 2
Vacant
District 3
Vacant
District 4
Shideh Chinichian, MD
District 5
Dale Cotton, MD
District 6
Sarah Favila, MD
At-Large Alternate Delegates
Olana Aberra, MD
Jonathan Aron, MD
Alyssa Ashbaugh Ortega, MD
Daniel Bernet, DO
Leo Chen, MD
Wendy Garabedian, MD
Eli Groppo, MD
Arthur Jey, MD
Gregory Kann, MD
Vimal Mishra, MD
Virginia Tsai, MD
M. Umer Waris, MD
Asmaneh Yamagata, MD
CMA Trustees, District XI
Adam Dougherty, MD
Margaret Parsons, MD
Robert Oldham, MD
AMA Delegation, District XI
Barbara Arnold, MD
Debra Lupeika, MD