Allen Galster, MD

Bio

I was born and reared in South Dakota, the last of three children. I was educated in the Midwest and moved to California for my professional training program at Stanford. I joined Kaiser Permanente at the Santa Clara hospital in 1985 after completing my residency training. I moved to the Santa Rosa facility in 1989 and was here for the hospital opening in 1990.

I chose to work for Kaiser Permanente after considering other options including academics and private practice opportunities. During my residency training, I worked in the University Hospital (which also had private practice services), a VA Hospital, Valley Medical Center (the county hospital of Santa Clara County), and Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara. I chose to come to Kaiser Permanente because the focus of the physicians I worked with as a resident was on patient care at the Kaiser Permanente Hospital. They did not appear to me to have the other responsibilities of the university or running their own practice. The surgeons I worked with lived and breathed taking care of patients. The surgeons were focused on trying to deliver the best care possible to their patients. I feel that my interpretations were correct and have enjoyed my career with Kaiser Permanente.

My Medical Specialty

More details about my specialty:

I chose general surgery as a career choice because it gave me the opportunity to treat patients medically as well as with technical/procedural opportunities. I found it fascinating to perform operations. General surgery has provided constant possibilities for growth and improvement.

As my career has progressed and matured, I have become more and more captivated by the personalities of the patients I treat. Whereas the procedural and technical aspects of care continue to interest me, I am increasingly drawn by the opportunity to assist patients in understanding their options and aiding them in making the best choice about their health care and for their life. My hope is to advise my patients in such a way that they understand the risks and benefits of the procedures that are proposed, to believe in the procedure if they choose to move forward with it, and to know where an operation fits into their optimal treatment plan for improvement of their life.

My specialty interests and affiliations within my field:

California Medical Association
Sonoma County Medical Association

Great health resources that I refer to:

American Cancer Society-www.cancer.org
National Library of Medicine-www.nlm.gov
WebMD-www.webmd.com
Sabiston's Textbook of Surgery
Mayo Clinic Health Letter

An interesting story from my training:

My medical school and residency training were daily learning experiences, both professionally and socially. Having the opportunity to attend Washington University Medical School surprised and delighted me. I continue to be grateful to those who chose to accept me there. I lived in a rural area until attending medical school in St. Louis, a really big city to me when I moved there. My advisor at Washington became the chairman of the surgery department at Stanford during my last year of medical school so the Stanford opportunity "fell in my lap."

Moving to California was an even more eye-opening experience in terms of a "world view." "Bright lights/big city" was an almost daily feeling for this naive young man from South Dakota. Being at Stanford, in particular, dramatically changed my outlook on the world.

Residency was hard work. During my time there most of my life was spent working in a hospital. I was married with children. During my last year, while Chief Resident at the University Hospital, my team and I organized a breakfast for the entire housestaff of the hospital We prepared pancakes and sausage for all housestaff who desired to attend. We fed a lot of people that morning. It was fun, and we thanked our friends and colleagues for their support of us. We had a deep appreciation for how great our regular jobs were.

Interests

Currently reading:
Fitzroy by John and Mary Gribbin--this is the story of the captain of the Beagle (Darwin's ship) who also happened to develop weather forecasting

My favorite book or author:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Hobby Photos & Links:

"River of Dreams"

North Bay Theater Group
Opera Fresca (Mendocino)--a nice relaxing way to hear good live music with lovely people in a lovely setting

Family & Friends

People in my life:

My wife and I have been married since 2003. Linda and I share a love of music, opera, and our children. Most of our friends describe our marriage as helping both of us become better people.

My children and people I care about:

Together we have five children:

Chad was born in 1976 in St. Louis, graduated from UC-Davis and USC (graduate school) and works in the television/film business in Los Angeles.

Megan was born in 1978 at Stanford. She graduated from Chico State University, is married, and is a teacher in the greater Sacramento area.

Joel was born in 1983 at Stanford, recently graduated from UC-Santa Barbara, lives with his older brother at this time, and also works in the television/film business in Los Angeles.

Stephen graduated from University of San Francisco and is an executive with the San Francisco Giants.

Stephanie graduated from Dominican University, is married with two children, and works as an executive for Macy's.

We have two grandchildren:
Natalie was born in 2000.
Emily was born in 2003.

Travel

An adventure I've had:

I visited China in October, 2001. China was a fascinating experience. I met my tour mates and made friends. My trip was guided by someone who spoke excellent English. One of my tour partners was an American born in Taiwan who spoke English and Chinese, so I was able to have a very personal trip using her as an interpreter. She, her husband, and I would walk late at night and take short walks at other times, seeing a different side of the cities we visited because she was there. I was able to experience the "street" food as well as the more traditional experience.

We stayed in modern hotels, saw modern dynamic cities, visited ancient historical sites, flew on American-built jet aircraft within China, saw road construction and farming techniques as were done in the US in the '50s or earlier, and witnessed fabulous wealth and abject poverty. Capitalism was rampant. The sites were magnificent. The military was present. What an experience.

Favorite place in the world:

I live in my favorite place in the world. While not perfect, Sonoma County has the best mixture of scenery, accessibility to recreational activities, availability of entertainment, pace of life, feeling of security, and weather, in our view. We expect to live here the rest of our lives.

I love to visit other places and have been blessed with those opportunities. The place I love to return to repeatedly for visits is the most western portion of Montana, the area around Missoula. I am drawn to rural areas. The scenery is captivating. I am not a "fly fisherman" but I enjoy fly fishing in the rivers in the Bitterroot Valley south of Missoula. Flathead Lake and its environs are peaceful and beautiful. Glacier National Park is in that area and is delightful to visit.

One of my recent trips:

Linda and I recently visited Germany. Arriving after a long trip and a challenging work schedule, we first went to the Moseltal, the valley of the Mosel River which is one of the major German wine regions. We stayed there three nights, unwinding, enjoying German food paired with German wine, and taking long walks. We then toured mostly in western and southwestern Germany, much of the time at a wonderful hotel in the Black Forest.

While in the Black Forest, we returned to the town of St. Margen. This is a small town that has a church that Linda, in particular, finds peaceful. There is nothing dramatic or special about this church; it isn't in any travel books, they don't play special music on an ongoing basis. It is just special to us. We visit this town and this church every time we go to Germany now. We traversed southern Germany eastward and ended our journey by returning to the U.S. after a two-night stay in Munich.

Travel Photos:

Trip Photos:

The Mosel River, Germany

St. Margen, Black Forest, Germany