Colleen Foy-Sterling, MD

Bio

I studied Anthropology (the study of people), Spanish and Latin American Studies in College and have lived in Costa Rica, Brazil, and Puerto Rico. After college I worked in a Migrant Health Center in Wisconsin as a bilingual health educator and became interested in health care. My entry into Family Medicine was not a direct path. I hope my past careers and experiences continue to color my practice style. I enjoy getting to know my patients and learning how I can best meet their health care needs. I started with Kaiser Santa Rosa in 2006, after many years working primarily in Community Health Centers in San Francisco and Petaluma. My practice has always included patients from all over the world and I particularly enjoy cross-cultural medicine. I speak Spanish and Portuguese.

If I do not find the answers you are seeking, or you are frustrated with something (that I have done or that is due to the health care system as a whole), let me know and, hopefully, we can work out a solution.

I chose family medicine because I wanted to work with people of all ages.

My Medical Specialty

More details about my specialty:

Most people do not realize that Family Doctors see patients of all ages. I worked in a pediatric department for six years after graduating from my residency and I greatly enjoy this part of my practice. Seeing patients of all ages is just plain fun!

My specialty interests and affiliations within my field:

I started my working in health care at a Migrant Farmworker Clinic in Wild Rose, Wisconsin. I was a bilingual health educator and 100% of our patients spoke Spanish. I owe my career choice to the Spanish speaking people I have known and worked with. Cross-cultural Medicine is what I do every day. I especially enjoy learning about family issues and seeing multiple members of one family in my practice.
I am passionate about identifying issues of Domestic Violence and how this changes the fabric of our individual and family health.
My son has bilateral hearing aids and I am learning some sign language and his experiences have changed my life as a doctor and as a parent.

Current projects or research:

Physician Champion for Domestic Violence and for Women's Mid Life Transitions (AKA Menopause, Can't we come up with a better name for it?). I am reading about developmental issues within childhood and the different ways we learn and how children are labled as "good" or "difficult".

Great health resources that I refer to:

Humor is often life saving during these difficult times...so here is a good link: www.theonion.com. This is a parody of a newspaper and it was started in my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. You can search the site for fabricated articles about just about anything. The web is a good place to laugh: just google any topic such as "cartoons about Star Wars and Pokemon combined" (my son's request) or "Match Games and Peter Rabbit" (my daughter's request)and spend a few minutes laughing or playing a learning game. Other favorites: jokes about Marriage and Divorce, Stress, Diets... all good for a few laughs about difficult things in life. One of the first places I went when I interviewed at Kaiser was the Health Education Department at suite 140 West. It is a great place, full of useful information.

An interesting story from my training:

I went to a very small med school, proud of its small group teaching sessions. I quickly discovered that I have speech disfluency problems when I am feeling stressed. This is like stuttering, only no sound is uttered. I found out it runs in my family. No one expects a doctor to be "unable to speak!" Anyone out there who stutters can relate.

Photos from My Training Years or of Practicing Medicine in My Field:

Helping Farmworkers in Wisconsin

Interests

Currently reading:
usually three or four books at once.

My favorite book or author:
Annie LaMott, Amy Tam, Laurie Moore

Family & Friends

People in my life:

My husband is an ex corporate lawyer, who came home from work one day when our son was 5 months old and wearily asked me what I would say if he quit his job and went back to school. I remember that moment like it was yesterday. Life is too short to not truly love what you do, so we began our adventure of starting everything over and moving out to Wisconsin for three years while he completed his MBA. My husband and I have been blessed with great, supportive, and interesting families, and now we have been blessed with our own little family. My husband now works in the wine industry so there are a lot of you out there who share our concern for every weather report from spring to the "crush".

My children and people I care about:

I am always saying to my children "How did I get so lucky?" and they gleefully know the answer "cause you got kids!".

My son is quite a writer and my daughter may be one too as she writes random letters all over his spelling tests and homework pages (hopefully after they come back from school graded). I spend time each week volunteering in their classes and really enjoy watching their teachers in action and learning so much from them.

An interesting story about my family or friends:

Just before I started working at Kaiser, we took a trip back to Costa Rica, where I was a high school exchange student in 1977. I had been hearing about La Selva Biological Station which has just a few rustic cabins (for visiting scientists). We called the day before and one was open, so we were able to stay in this amazing rain forest and spend the days hiking along, seeing lots of wildlife and eating our meals with researchers from all over the world!

I have had my dog Mali since 1995. She was the main focus of my photographic endeavors for years, and continues to comfort me. My dog has taught me that massage and accupressure really do help dogs as much as they do people. My dog has a very long back and is low to the ground so at risk for back aches. I am a big believer in massage and human touch, to promote health and contentment, even for our pets.

Travel

An adventure I've had:

Travelled to San Francisco, in my 1982 Honda, on a completely empty Highway 101 on New Year's Day, to go on my first and only blind date. I ended up marrying the guy!

Favorite place in the world:

Autumn Fall Color in Madison, Wisconsin, somewhere near one of the many lakes on the Isthmus. Also, up on the hill above San Ramon, Alajuela, Costa Rica, looking at the view and thinking about the past.

One of my recent trips:

My kids and I went across the "Ocean" (Lake Michigan), on a "steam boat" (Auto-ferry), and saw "sharks" (white-caps on the waves) and hung out with "Tiny Grandmother" (my step mother) and ate like Kings and Queens (when ever we weren't at the beach).

A Photo of One of My Favorite Places:

Autumn in Madison, WI

San Ramon, Costa Rica