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Meet MarinHealth Pediatrician Dr. Megan Reeves
Dr. Megan Reeves, a Pediatrician at MarinHealth Pediatric Care | A UCSF Health Clinic, has an interesting take on the role of a pediatrician. She believes it’s the ultimate form of preventive medicine–an opportunity to partner with families and get youngsters on the path to a lifetime of good health.
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After receiving her undergraduate degree from Occidental College, Dr. Reeves completed a master’s in education while teaching in an underserved community in Los Angeles. She then attended medical school at UCLA, where she also completed her residency training with a focus on primary care and community medicine.
In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends and chasing her dog around the Bay Area’s many green spaces.
Learn more about Megan Reeves, MD
Megan Reeves, MD
Dr. Reeves is a board certified pediatrician at MarinHealth Pediatric Care | A UCSF Health Clinic, providing care for children from birth through adolescence. Her medical philosophy centers on preventative health, and she strives to provide comprehensive and compassionate care for all of her patients. She values forming long‐term, collaborative relationships with patients and their families.After receiving her undergraduate degree from Occidental College, Dr. Reeves completed a master’s in education while teaching in an underserved community in Los Angeles. She then attended medical school at UCLA, where she also completed her residency training with a focus on primary care and community medicine.
In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends and chasing her dog around the Bay Area’s many green spaces.
Learn more about Megan Reeves, MD
Transcription:
Bill Klaproth (Host): Understanding a physician’s background and philosophy is important when evaluating whether or not a physician is right for you. So, let’s talk with Dr. Megan Reeves, a Pediatrician at MarinHealth and find out more about her and her physician philosophy. This is The Healing Podcast brought to you by MarinHealth. I’m Bill Klaproth. Dr. Reeves, it is great to talk with you and we are excited to get to know you a little bit better. So, what made you decide to become a physician?
Megan Reeves, MD (Guest): So, in terms of what drew me to medicine to begin with, I think it was overall a dedication to service, to serving others and feeling like medicine was a way to meld a passion for science with a desire to help, to interact with people on a daily basis in an effort to make their lives better.
Host: I love that. So, then how did you wind up choosing pediatrics?
Dr. Reeves: A love of kids of course. But I think even more so than that, is a desire to really focus on preventative medicine and pediatrics is the ultimate way to do that because you’re getting them from the beginning. You’re helping to form healthy life habits from day one in hopes of getting better life and health outcomes overall. So, I think it came more from that passion for preventative care that pediatrics seemed like such a natural fit for me. The other joy of pediatrics is really being a physician to treat and be available for the whole family. I think parents and families are more apt to get medical attention and care for their children than they are often for themselves. I think that pediatrics is a unique ability to intervene in the health of the whole family, not just the child that you are treating.
Host: You’re kind of like a partner with the parents so to speak, right?
Dr. Reeves: Yes and that’s definitely where my passion in medicine lies, is being able to partner with families for the health of everyone.
Host: Yeah, you get to treat people early on in their really formative years. So, where did you receive your education and training?
Dr. Reeves: I went to UCLA for medical school and continued there for residency. Before I forayed into medicine, I actually taught for two years in Los Angeles as part of a Teach for America Program. So, I did take a bit of time between my undergraduate education and then moving on to medicine. Which I think has actually really informed my practice as a physician, having taught for a couple of years and had a different interaction with patients from the perspective of a teacher.
Host: Yeah it gives you a different viewpoint as well having that experience as a teacher.
Dr. Reeves: Yes, exactly.
Host: So, you went to school at UCLA. How did you find your way to the Bay area?
Dr. Reeves: It was more or less through my husband. He got the opportunity to work up here in the Bay and we had always loved the Bay area. He had lived here for a couple of years before we were married. And we so enjoyed spending time up here so when the opportunity presented itself, we decided I can be a pediatrician from anywhere and this is a great opportunity to move and so, found ourselves here over the last three and a half years and love it.
Host: So, why did you choose MarinHealth?
Dr. Reeves: As we relocated up to the Bay area, I was looking for a position as a primary care pediatrician where I could interact with a wide variety of patients. People from different backgrounds, different socioeconomic status, different cultural backgrounds and I found Marin specifically in the practice that I have been a part of for the last three plus years which has been excellent. I love the patients I serve. I love the community that I serve and MarinHealth in particular, I love because it is really tailored to serving the community here. they are specific to Marin. And so they are addressing issues that are specific to Marin and specific to the community and the patients that exist here. So, I feel honored to be a part of it.
Host: Well it sounds like a great match. You mentioned how you love serving the community here and how MarinHealth is specially tailored to serving this community. So, when it comes to specifically your patients, can you tell us your philosophy of care and how do you approach the care of your patients?
Dr. Reeves: I think generally as we kind of alluded to before, I really try and approach the care of my patients in partnership with families. I view myself as in partnership with parents for the health of their children. I would say that my philosophy is focused around collaboration with families, preventative care overall, a harm reduction model when it comes to care but the way that I approach patients is from a position of let’s talk about what works in the context of your family, what are the ways that we can approach this problem or issue and talk about the pluses and minuses of everything together. Where my opinion lies, where your thoughts are so we can reach a common understanding in effort to improve the health of their child.
Host: Yeah, that collaboration of care with the parents in an effort to improve the health of their child, you get the – the best of both worlds. So, as we wrap up Dr. Reeves, I know you mentioned that you are married. Is there anything else you’d like your patients to know about you?
Dr. Reeves: I have a six month old son who we welcomed earlier this year which has been such an eye opening experience. As a pediatrician, I counsel families all day, but it is a totally different experience to have your own and I think it’s just widened my worldview and widened my view in terms of being a doctor in a really unique way which has been such a blessing.
Host: Right, you get that firsthand experience now.
Dr. Reeves: Exact – yes, exactly. Exactly. It’s totally different than – than you might initially think and it’s very humbling.
Host: Yeah, well Dr. Reeves, thank you for your time and thank you for your service and we’re glad that you’re a part of the Marin family. So, thank you so much again for your time. We appreciate it.
Dr. Reeves: Thank you so much Bill.
Host: That’s Dr. Megan Reeves and to learn more please visit www.mymarinhealth.org. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out the full podcast library for topics of interest to you. This is The Healing Podcast brought to you by MarinHealth. I’m Bill Klaproth. Thanks for listening.
Bill Klaproth (Host): Understanding a physician’s background and philosophy is important when evaluating whether or not a physician is right for you. So, let’s talk with Dr. Megan Reeves, a Pediatrician at MarinHealth and find out more about her and her physician philosophy. This is The Healing Podcast brought to you by MarinHealth. I’m Bill Klaproth. Dr. Reeves, it is great to talk with you and we are excited to get to know you a little bit better. So, what made you decide to become a physician?
Megan Reeves, MD (Guest): So, in terms of what drew me to medicine to begin with, I think it was overall a dedication to service, to serving others and feeling like medicine was a way to meld a passion for science with a desire to help, to interact with people on a daily basis in an effort to make their lives better.
Host: I love that. So, then how did you wind up choosing pediatrics?
Dr. Reeves: A love of kids of course. But I think even more so than that, is a desire to really focus on preventative medicine and pediatrics is the ultimate way to do that because you’re getting them from the beginning. You’re helping to form healthy life habits from day one in hopes of getting better life and health outcomes overall. So, I think it came more from that passion for preventative care that pediatrics seemed like such a natural fit for me. The other joy of pediatrics is really being a physician to treat and be available for the whole family. I think parents and families are more apt to get medical attention and care for their children than they are often for themselves. I think that pediatrics is a unique ability to intervene in the health of the whole family, not just the child that you are treating.
Host: You’re kind of like a partner with the parents so to speak, right?
Dr. Reeves: Yes and that’s definitely where my passion in medicine lies, is being able to partner with families for the health of everyone.
Host: Yeah, you get to treat people early on in their really formative years. So, where did you receive your education and training?
Dr. Reeves: I went to UCLA for medical school and continued there for residency. Before I forayed into medicine, I actually taught for two years in Los Angeles as part of a Teach for America Program. So, I did take a bit of time between my undergraduate education and then moving on to medicine. Which I think has actually really informed my practice as a physician, having taught for a couple of years and had a different interaction with patients from the perspective of a teacher.
Host: Yeah it gives you a different viewpoint as well having that experience as a teacher.
Dr. Reeves: Yes, exactly.
Host: So, you went to school at UCLA. How did you find your way to the Bay area?
Dr. Reeves: It was more or less through my husband. He got the opportunity to work up here in the Bay and we had always loved the Bay area. He had lived here for a couple of years before we were married. And we so enjoyed spending time up here so when the opportunity presented itself, we decided I can be a pediatrician from anywhere and this is a great opportunity to move and so, found ourselves here over the last three and a half years and love it.
Host: So, why did you choose MarinHealth?
Dr. Reeves: As we relocated up to the Bay area, I was looking for a position as a primary care pediatrician where I could interact with a wide variety of patients. People from different backgrounds, different socioeconomic status, different cultural backgrounds and I found Marin specifically in the practice that I have been a part of for the last three plus years which has been excellent. I love the patients I serve. I love the community that I serve and MarinHealth in particular, I love because it is really tailored to serving the community here. they are specific to Marin. And so they are addressing issues that are specific to Marin and specific to the community and the patients that exist here. So, I feel honored to be a part of it.
Host: Well it sounds like a great match. You mentioned how you love serving the community here and how MarinHealth is specially tailored to serving this community. So, when it comes to specifically your patients, can you tell us your philosophy of care and how do you approach the care of your patients?
Dr. Reeves: I think generally as we kind of alluded to before, I really try and approach the care of my patients in partnership with families. I view myself as in partnership with parents for the health of their children. I would say that my philosophy is focused around collaboration with families, preventative care overall, a harm reduction model when it comes to care but the way that I approach patients is from a position of let’s talk about what works in the context of your family, what are the ways that we can approach this problem or issue and talk about the pluses and minuses of everything together. Where my opinion lies, where your thoughts are so we can reach a common understanding in effort to improve the health of their child.
Host: Yeah, that collaboration of care with the parents in an effort to improve the health of their child, you get the – the best of both worlds. So, as we wrap up Dr. Reeves, I know you mentioned that you are married. Is there anything else you’d like your patients to know about you?
Dr. Reeves: I have a six month old son who we welcomed earlier this year which has been such an eye opening experience. As a pediatrician, I counsel families all day, but it is a totally different experience to have your own and I think it’s just widened my worldview and widened my view in terms of being a doctor in a really unique way which has been such a blessing.
Host: Right, you get that firsthand experience now.
Dr. Reeves: Exact – yes, exactly. Exactly. It’s totally different than – than you might initially think and it’s very humbling.
Host: Yeah, well Dr. Reeves, thank you for your time and thank you for your service and we’re glad that you’re a part of the Marin family. So, thank you so much again for your time. We appreciate it.
Dr. Reeves: Thank you so much Bill.
Host: That’s Dr. Megan Reeves and to learn more please visit www.mymarinhealth.org. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out the full podcast library for topics of interest to you. This is The Healing Podcast brought to you by MarinHealth. I’m Bill Klaproth. Thanks for listening.