David Vidaurri, MD

Bio

I am a Physiatrist, Board Certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

I am the Chief of The Physical Medicine Department. I perform electrodiagnostic examinations as well as interventional spine injections under fluoroscopy. I split my time between the Departments of Physical Medicine and Occupational Medicine.

I was born and raised in a small town in the central San Joaquin Valley of California.

I attended the University of California at Berkeley from 1985 through 1989. With a summer of study at Harvard University in 1989, I completed my BA degree in Physiology, with distinction in general scholarship.

I attended the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine from 1990 through 1994. I served as the coordinator for the Chicano/Latino Medical Student Association, UCSF chapter, from 1990 to 1992.

I completed my residency training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of California Davis Medical Center in 1998. While at UC Davis I had the opportunity to work at Kaiser in Sacramento and South Sacramento for training. Additionally I worked part-time at South Sacramento in the Department of Occupational Medicine. Following residency I joined Kaiser Permanente with a year of practice in Vallejo (Occupational Medicine) before transferring to Santa Rosa.

In my spare time, I enjoy time with family & friends, good food & wine, rock & jazz music, mountain biking and skiing.

My Medical Specialty

My specialty interests and affiliations within my field:

Diagnostic and Therapeutic Interventional Spine Injections / Procedures.
Electrodiagnostic Testing
Neuromuscular Disorders

Great health resources that I refer to:

Book: Younger Next Year
Website: www.kp.org
Magazine: Outside

An interesting story from my training:

During my first two years of medical school I experienced healthcare as a patient as well as a student.

I realized during a lecture on the neurological exam that my right hand had atrophy and weakness.

Two neurology consults, two MRIs, two electrodiagnostic studies, a CT myelogram (complete with a spinal headache), and a neurosurgery consult later I had the answer: a benign loss of motor function.

This has remained stable and does not limit my practice, but did guide my decision for specialty practice.

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

UCD PM&R 1998 Graduating Seniors: Drs. Chen, Dagher, and Vidaurri

Interests

Currently reading:
How Doctors Think

My favorite book or author:
Rain of Gold

Great movie:
Sideways

Hobby Photos & Links:

The top of Whistler, B.C. 2004.

Skiing with friends in B.C. 2004.

Family & Friends

People in my life:

I am married and have two wonderful children.
Our daughter was born at the end of residency training in Sacramento. She enjoys reading and sports.
Our son was born in Santa Rosa. He is earning his black belt in Tae Kwon Do and loves multiple other sports as well.

My children and people I care about:

I have two older brothers and a younger sister. My mother raised us while attending college and working. Her work as a lab technician, her dedication, and example paved the way for my entry into medicine.

An interesting story about my family or friends:

My wife and I met during a summer program for medical Spanish in Puerto Vallarta.

As fate would have it, the classmate that I traveled with to the program married the classmate with whom she traveled. They remain our close friends and we travel and ski together yearly.

Photos of my Family & Friends:

Holidays at Disneyland 2003

At a family wedding, August 2005.

Friends Skiing at Mammoth 2005

LUNA has passed on - 2/4/06.
Her passing was very hard on our family and she is missed daily. She had been with us since she was eight weeks old. Born in 1994, she was a mix of Doberman Pincher and German Shepherd (all ninety pounds of her). She was great with the kids and was our first, so to speak.

Pet Photos:

In her prime, Sacramento - 1996.

Travel

An adventure I've had:

A Close Non-Encounter
I have had the fortune of hiking in Denali National Park. My wife and I traveled to Anchorage to visit her sister in 1992. We drove north to the park, white-water rafted and had a great day of hiking. Upon returning to the bus area, we were informed that we had traveled in the direction of a grizzly and her cubs. They had been in the middle of the road and ran off as our bus pulled up. Luckily, we did not encounter her during our hike and I lived to tell the tale.

I had the best salmon at The Eagle's Nest Restaurant after that hike. By the way, the Kenai Peninsula has amazing wilderness as well.

Favorite place in the world:

Home Sweet Home.
Family, Friends, Wine, Food, Open Space, Trails, Weather...

One of my recent trips:

Spain, Sept 2005 for two weeks with my wife.
Barcelona for four nights with a day trip up to Figueres to see the Salvador Dali Museum; train to Madrid for another four nights; train to San Sebastian for 3 nights and then back by bullet train to Paris for the final night.
Barcelona is a wonderful place with it's Catalan cuisine and customs, college city feel and seaside location it is a must see.
Madrid is the NY, NY of Spain and has all the air of a royal historic capital. The museums are top notch.
San Sebastian is another gem on the Atlantic Coast with Basque influenced cuisine and customs. It is the Spanish place to vacation. We did not make it to wine country but did venture to the Guggenheim in Bilbao.
The final night in Paris is a blur but the Chocolate Moose at L'ilot Vache Restaurant, the walk on the banks of the Seine and the Eiffel Tower at 1:00 am will always be remembered.

Travel Photos:

Mammoth Mountain, April 2005.

Trip Photos:

Father & Son on Jetski in Mexico

Father & Daughter Snorkeling in Mexico