Mark E. Jacobson, MD

Bio

I was born and raised in Fargo, North Dakota. My family was musically and educationally driven with everyone learning to play at least two instruments and that college was an expectation, not an option.

After graduating from Fargo North High, I went to the University of Iowa where I completed my undergraduate degree and then graduated from The University of Iowa College of Medicine. As an undergraduate, I swam on the University swim team and in medical school was active in the AKK medical fraternity.

Upon graduation, I moved back to Fargo for my internship, which was a wonderful time for me to develop my relationship with my father who has since passed away. After my intern year I moved to Buffalo, New York and started my Ophthalmology training at the SUNY of Buffalo.

After two years in Buffalo I had the opportunity to continue and complete my Ophthalmology training at the Eye Institute affiliated with the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. During this training I realized that although I enjoyed all of the Ophthalmology it was dealing with children and the analysis of crossed eye problems that gave me joy and energy. With that in mind, I did a year fellowship focusing on Pediatric Ophthalmology at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. From there I was recruited to join a private practice in Santa Rosa, California. Before starting in this practice, I did a second fellowship at the Smith Kettelwell Institute studying with Art Jampolsky, M.D. and Alan Scott, M.D. learning more of the nuances of strabismus surgery and the use of Botox. Upon completion of my fellowship I had the opportunity to attend surgery with Dr. Jampolsky for the next ten years until his retirement, continuing to hone my strabismus knowledge. During this time and up until the present, I have taught residents in their clinics at either CPMC or UCSF in San Francisco trying to give back some of what I had learned.

I feel blessed that after twenty years of practicing Pediatric Ophthalmology in Sonoma County, I was given the opportunity to join Kaiser Permanente.

My Pediatric and Strabismus practice is once more growing as I greet new and former patients, recreating the joy and energy that my specialty gives me.

My Medical Specialty

More details about my specialty:

Although all Ophthalmologists spend some time training in children's eye problems, I have taken time to do additional training allowing me a broader understanding of these problems and how to treat them.

As a Pediatric Ophthalmologist I focus on the developing visual system in children which does not mature until around puberty, trying to maximize both the visual acuity as well as the binocularity or teaming of both eyes. Occasionally, the eye alignment is off and requires intervention to correct. I use both Botox as well as strabismus surgery to achieve this goal. Eye misalignment however, does not occur solely in children. Adults may also have a strabismus problem and require an intervention to align their eyes. No one is ever too old to have their eyes aligned and studies have shown people of all ages can benefit in an improvement of binocular function as well as eliminating the stigmata of misaligned eyes and the pyscho-social problems that they create.

Of course I also do general Ophthalmology and can examine adult's eyes for age related problems. In addition to strabismus surgery I perform surgery to correct functional problems on upper and lower eyelids.

Great health resources that I refer to:

AAPOS.org for pediatric and strabismus questions.

An interesting story from my training:

For the first three of my Ophthalmology training positions, I received a telephone call telling me that I had been selected. Each of those calls was on a Friday the thirteenth!

Interests

Family & Friends

People in my life:

My wife and I have two boys. My wife has a BFA from the Chicago Art Institute and has focused on photography and jewelry over the past several years. My youngest is currently active with Nordquest and Boy Scouts and is also taking piano lessons. My oldest is busy with video in the Artquest Program at Santa Rosa High School and is also a Boy Scout. Both boys are great brothers and wonderful sons. Through an international exchange program, called "En Famille" both of our boys also have a French brother with whom they lived with for a year (here and in France).

This past summer was especially fun as we had all four boys "home" for the summer and traveled to Bryce, Zion and the Grand Canyon National Parks as well as spending a week on Venice Beach.

Next summer our boys will probably be back in France visiting their French families.

Photos of my Family & Friends:

My wife Monica and I

All of us

Hunter and Fabien at Scout Camp

Luke and Hugo at Scout Camp

Describing our family would not be complete without noting our pets. We have an English Springer - Lacy, a cat - Puzzle, a rabbit - Jules Fern, and a Cockatiel - Steve. All of whom contribute to our everyday confusion.

Pet Photos:

Steve The Cockatiel

Lacey The dog

Jules Fern The Rabbit

Puzzle The Cat

Travel

An adventure I've had:

My family has been fortunate to discover the joys of travel. In visiting many of our National Parks and natural wonders here in the United States we have discovered the vastness of time and nature.

In visiting Europe, we have seen how man has shaped his surroundings in culture and beauty. All of our travels have given us an appreciation of our world and how we must work together to protect it.

Favorite place in the world:

Our favorite place to visit is Hawaii. I had never been before I was married and since our honeymoon, my wife and I have returned, with and without our boys, and find it a beautiful and relaxing place to be.

One of my recent trips:

A fun story from one of our visits to Hawaii, involved going out Whale watching. We were with a group that divided into two boats. Once we were out, "Scratchy" the Whale came up to our boat. The captain stopped and we had a private show, blow hole mist and all, for about forty minutes. Scratchy just swam and dived around our boat. When we got back, the other boat was quite excited as they had spotted a whale and watched it from about one half mile away. Their bravado soon ended however, when they heard about Scratchy!

Travel Photos:

Westminster Abbey, England

Ceskey Krumlov, Czech Republic

Bryce Canyon

Grand Canyon, North Rim

A Photo of One of My Favorite Places:

Body Surfing in Kona

Trip Photos:

Scratchy The Whale