Nannette Meyers, MD

Bio

I grew up in a small town in eastern Ohio. After receiving my BS in Pharmacy from the Ohio State University in 1988, I practiced as a registered pharmacist in Florida and eventually San Francisco. While living here, I developed a deep love of northern California.

I left the Bay Area to go to medical school at the Ohio State University and did my residency at the University of Chicago Hospitals. I chose an interdisciplinary program of study in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, which required an additional year of residency. When my residency was complete, I began a targeted job search for a position in the Bay Area.

After months of interviews, I found Kaiser Santa Rosa. Kaiser Permanente stood out above all other opportunities I had investigated, due to great staff chemistry and a team attitude toward delivering exceptional health care. I joined the medical staff in August of 1999, initially working in the family medicine and pediatric clinics. In 2004, I chose to become a hospitalist, (see the link above for more information on hospitalists). Though I primarily see patients who are ill enough to be in the hospital, I still enjoy taking care of children. So, you might see me sometimes in the pediatric urgent care clinic.

I am committed to comprehensive quality patient care. I feel Kaiser Permanente suits my practice style perfectly. I enjoy having the subspecialists located on the premises. As a primary care physician, I get the benefit of having convenient consults and taking advantage of a large pool of talented colleagues in order to deliver the best healthcare possible.

Keeping abreast of the rapidly changing world of medicine requires continuous study. I do nearly 100 hours of continuing education each year. As a pediatrician, I am required by the American Board of Pediatrics to recertify every 7 years. The American Board of Internal Medicine requires recertification every 10 years. I also continue to maintain my pharmacy license. I believe all of this is very important so that I can take the best care of my patients as possible.

My Medical Specialty

More details about my specialty:

I chose to train both as an Internist (doctor for adults) and a Pediatrician. In medical school, I found that I enjoyed taking care of people of all ages and a "med/peds" residency program gave me excellent training to do both.

Practicing in the hospital is very exciting as each day presents new and unique challenges. I really enjoy working with adult patients when they are seriously ill. It is very rewarding when I can help patients regain their health and go home to their families.

On the other hand, I find working in the pediatric urgent clinic just as rewarding. Having a child that is acutely ill can be a stressful experience for all of those involved in his or her care. As a parent myself, I certainly know what it is like to worry. I love being able to offer treatment and reassurance to parents and their children and hopefully reduce some of the stress of having a sick child.

I believe my current position makes maximum use of my skills and training as an internal medicine and pediatric specialist. By working with children and adults in 2 different settings, Kaiser Permanente allows me to have the greatest impact on the well being of our community.

My specialty interests and affiliations within my field:

American College of Physicians
American Academy of Pediatrics
Sonoma County Medical Society

Current projects or research:

While I am not currently involved in any formal projects, I am doing a daily (and sometimes nightly) in-depth examination of early childhood growth and development. I have a one-on-one fellowship with my son who teaches me something everyday!

In 2008, I will also be spending a considerable amount of time preparing for recertification for the internal medicine board exam of 2009. Recertification is required every ten years . (It is required every 7 years by the board of pediatrics and I met this requirement in 2006.)

Great health resources that I refer to:

UptoDate.com
PUBMED website
AAP website
Kaiser Online Clinical Library

An interesting story from my training:

The most memorable learning experience from my training happened to me as a first year medical student on the cardiology (heart) ward at The Ohio State University Hospitals. I was part of a team taking care of an older gentleman who had suffered a heart attack. His wife had not left his bedside in almost 2 days, but he was recovering well and she decided to go home and get some rest. Later that same day he had another massive heart attack, and we were unable to save him. It was left up to me to tell the patient's wife the news.

When she arrived back at the hospital, I was waiting. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. I had never had to tell a family member that their loved one died. I cried while I was telling her that her husband who had been laughing and joking a few hours earlier was gone. She was so gracious; through her tears she said that he had had a good life and thanked me for everything we'd done. After a little while, talking about his life and his family, she left me with a hug.

I had been embarrassed about crying when I gave her the bad news. I was supposed to be a tough seasoned professional or so some of my teachers had led me to believe. But she taught me something I try to remember everyday. There is more to doctoring than sound medical knowledge...there's a personal side too.

Interests

Currently reading:
The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan

My favorite book or author:
Animal Farm by George Orwell

Great movie:
Stardust

Hobby Photos & Links:

I love this fish stamp.

This is a congratulations card I did for a friend who had a baby boy.

Family & Friends

People in my life:

I was born and raised a Midwesterner. Growing up in a small town in eastern Ohio was not the cultural experience I would have wished for but it had its moments .

My younger brother and I had a fortunate childhood. There was a huge tract of green space, (we called it "the woods") at the end of our street complete with a year round creek where we spent time during the summer. The school was close by and we walked there sometimes on our days off to play on the swings because there were no lines. And sometimes my mom would take us to the local pool or out to the lake. We had a lot of fun growing up.

We were very lucky. My mother was able to stay home with us until we were both in school and then she got a daytime job with school hours. She was always there for us not only cooking, cleaning, attending every track and swim meet but also supporting our development. She taught me the importance of family, doing a job well, and having fun.

My father was a small businessman and worked six days a week. He generally took Sundays off and managed to eke out a week or two of vacation each year. He was gone a lot it seemed but certainly maximized the time he spent with us. He taught me self sufficiency, not to be afraid of hard work, and that you are only as old as you act.

My children and people I care about:

I live in Santa Rosa with my husband and our three-year-old son. My husband is a Midwestern transplant too, (Illinois). When we moved from Chicago to Santa Rosa it was midsummer. I had brought him out here before that but it was early spring. So you can imagine his surprise being from the Midwest, (which is positively tropical in the summer), at the brown hillsides and the dry climate. It took him a few camping trips, a few winery tours, and a few trips to San Francisco, but now he considers northern California home and can't imagine living anywhere else.

An interesting story about my family or friends:

I met my best friend in Brownies in second grade. We had some hilarious times growing up. Both of our mothers were still going to parent-teacher night in high school; we were so mortified. Her mother used to call the Pizza Hut where we would go to hang with our track buddies to make sure that we were really there. My mother on the other hand would let us have the car to go to the disco in West Virginia where the drinking age was 18 (we always had a designated driver). In high school, I was elected valedictorian and she was elected class clown.

Now we live 2500 miles apart. She is a divorced single mother of two who works full time as an attorney for the city government in Ohio. She gets up at 5:30 every morning and goes to bed at midnight. And yet she manages to exercise, keep her kids in line and maintain her sense of humor. She truly is an inspiration.

My husband and I had a disagreement about whether to get a cat or a dog. I wanted a cat but my husband doesn't like them that much. On the other hand my husband wanted a dog....a big dog that we would keep in the house. I said "No way!" So we compromised and decided on fish. I'm thinking a nice aquarium, a few guppies and green plants. I should have known as my husband never does anything halfway. We have three salt water fish aquariums: one for coral fragments, one for quarantine, and a 65 gallon tank that houses most of the fish and invertebrates. They are:

Sid- a Green Gumdrop Goby
Yoda- a Rainsford Goby
Chumley- a Bicolor Blenney
Fran- a Royal Gramma
Elvis- a Golden Butterflyfish
Bozo- a Purple Firefish
Lucky- a Banded Starfish
Fred- a Pompom Crab (Actually it should be Fredwina because she layed eggs. Hey, I'm a doctor not a marine biologist.)
Ray - a cleaner shrimp

It really is a beautiful tank and very entertaining to watch. And best of all my husband does all of the maintenance.

Pet Photos:

Lucky is a Banded Serpent Starfish, she moves incredibly fast and is fun to watch.

Sid is a ham, here he is posing on his throne a Scolymia coral.

"Fred" the pregnant Pom-Pom Crab

Bozo a beautiful Purple Firefish

Travel

An adventure I've had:

The silliest thing that ever happened to me was on a trip to Italy that I took near the end of residency. I had been in Italy about a week and was catching a morning train to Rome. After carefully checking the times and on which track the train was, I boarded. I double checked the signs inside the train car.... yep Rome. Well, after several stops and some time had passed. I noticed that there were no longer any other people in the car. In fact we were pulling into the train yard with no boarding platform in site. Finally the train came to a halt and I stepped off in the middle of the train yard with no station in visible site and no person in visible site.

Finally after wandering around a bit I spotted a trainyard worker and, in what I am sure was about the level of a 2-year-old speaking Italian, I made my self understood and was pointed in the direction of the station. When I got there, it was only several stops outside of Rome, and I soon caught another train. I guess the schedule had been changed on the train that I was on and since it was not noted at the station of my origin, I expect they announced it overhead, in Italian of course.

Favorite place in the world:

My favorite place, as corny as it may sound, is right here in Sonoma County. Northern California is a beautiful part of the country and it's close to everything I like to do. There is wonderful camping and hiking close by...we love the Mendocino Coast Area. We've listened to some great music at the Luther Burbank, seen wonderful dance and theatre at Cal Performances in Berkeley and for art and opera San Francisco can't be beat. You can grow almost anything in the garden here and what we can't grow we get in our weekly box from community supported agriculture at Laguna Farms. And while I am on food, dining out is exquisite here. My husband and I joke that we are spoiled by all of the fine dining. Plus, living in the middle of wine country this close to San Francisco guarantees that family and friends will come visit.

One of my recent trips:

Well, we haven't traveled a whole lot except to see family since my son was born. But the best place we've been in the last couple of years is Kaua'i. We went there on our honeymoon. The trail to the Alaki swamp was just crazy... fun but crazy. The birding and the views were spectacular over the whole island. My husband snorkeled for the first time in his life and an obsession was born. It is one of the main reasons we have a salt water fish tank. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we hope to make it a regular vacation destination when our son is a little older.

A Photo of One of My Favorite Places:

The evening fog sets in at Austin Creek State Recreation Area

Trip Photos:

The trail to the Alakai Swamp was gorgeous, but at times it looked less like a trail and more like a movie set.

You never know what you'll find under water.