I started thinking about becoming a doctor at the age of six
after reading of the exploits of Dr.Tom Dooley as he treated
the people of rural Laos. With that in mind, I think my medical
career evolved as it did.
While in Medical School, I became very interested in the care
of the under served and very ill. Early in my career I worked
in outpatient clinics caring for Native Hawaiians, who lived
in the Homestead Areas of Hawaii. They experienced the highest
rate of disease in the state. I traveled to the peninsula
of Kalapapa on the island of Molokai to treat the victims
of Hanson’s Disease at the refuge established by Father
Damien in the nineteenth century, where he eventually contracted
the disease himself. From Hawaii I traveled to Hiroshima,
Japan to study the long-term effects of radiation on the survivors
on the atomic bomb blast.
Returning to this country and Cook County Hospital in Chicago,
I first encountered the problems of those who reside in the
inner city, where many had poor access to medical care and
tended to wait until a problem reached critical proportion
before they sought medical attention. I delivered babies in
the south side of Chicago at Northwestern’s Home Delivery
Service, which served Chicago’s infamous Robert Taylor
and Cabrini Green housing projects.
My first experience in treating our veterans was at the VA
Research Hospital at Northwestern University in Chicago. I
also served as a medical resident at the Long Beach VA Hospital,
where I dealt with the fallout from war, ranging from horrors
experienced by the survivors of the Bataan Death March in
the Philippines to those suffering from posttraumatic disorders
from their service in Vietnam. Before settling on the West
Coast, I went to Durban, South Africa to study at the King
Edward VIII Hospital, and saw amoebic dysentery, typhoid,
tetanus, and other tropical diseases of the local Zulu population.
I served an internship in surgery at Los Angeles County Hospital
where I was again face to face with the result of the inner
city violence and disease endemic to many of the two million
patients cared for by that hospital.
After completing my formal training I decided to locate my
practice in Chula Vista in San Diego’s South Bay, six
miles from America’s border with Mexico. This resulted
in the rapid improvement of my Spanish. I continued to see
patients in this area which still is medically under served.
It has also under gone tremendous growth as the 7th fastest
growing city in the U.S.
In addition to our office care, we actively follow our patients
in the hospital medical and surgical intensive care as well
as the coronary care unit. We feel your post hospitalization
continuity of care is greatly improved if we are involved
with you in the hospital
At our clinic, in addition to providing treatment in our office,
I actively followed our patients upon admission to hospital
intensive care, coronary care, obstetric care, and pediatric
care wards. I also provided house calls, as I do today.
Over twenty-five years later I still enjoy the challenge of
medicine, and that enthusiasm is reflected in our approach
to patient care.
My interest in medical conditions in the third world continues.
Since 1979, I have traveled with my wife Sally to the Brazilian
Amazon as a medical volunteer. Our interest is the Fundacao
Esperanca Clinic in Santarem, which provides tropical medical
care to the malnourished local residents, and the isolated
rural villages called Quilombos located a day’s travel
by boat. The Quilombos were established in the eighteenth
century by escaped Brazilian-African slaves who fled into
the Amazon and established these villages, which exist to
this day. Upon completing the mini residency program in Aids/HIV
medicine offered by the Owen Clinic of the University of California,
San Diego in 2003, I was able to give a series of lectures
to doctors, nurses, and students in Brazil regarding the latest
treatment of AIDS/HIV.
We hope to be involved in training health care workers to
treat aids in Africa and other third world countries.
Dr. David E. Monahan, MD
My mother was and still is a Neonatal Intensive Care Nurse.
She profoundly influenced my attitudes towards caring for
the sick. In high school I volunteered at Palomar Hospital
and was lucky to be able to work along side my mother and
observe her professionalism and dedication. The second influence
on my practice of
Medicine came in 1993 when I did an elective Family Practice
Rotation at Amigo Medical Group. I met Dr. Monahan and he
was able to show me how to put my dedication and medical
skills to practical use in today’s medical environment.
I was very pleased to be asked to join Dr. Monahan at Amigo
in 2000 after I completed my residency.
I began my voyage in medicine studying Nursing at San
Diego State University. At some point, even before I transferred
to the University of California at San Diego, I switched
to a Biology Major to pursue a career as a Doctor of Medicine.
Seeing patients through my mother’s eyes and studying
Nursing has made me a better doctor. As a premedical student
I volunteered at the Red Cross (Cruz Rojas) Hospital in
Tijuana. While in medical school, I continued my interest
in the under served communities volunteering at the Asian
Health Clinic at the University of California, Davis School
of Medicine and The Clinica Tepati, a Hispanic clinic in
the Sacramento area. I chose to pursue my Family Practice
Residency in Los Angeles at The Martin Luther King / Drew
Medical Center. There I gained an extensive clinical exposure
to the complex medical problems of the inner city populations.
After completing my Residency in Family Practice, I took
the Family Practice Boards in July 2000. I am Board Certified
in Family Practice with particular interest in Women’s
Health, Adolescent Medicine and Pediatrics. As a Family
Practice physician I am able to treat the full spectrum
of illnesses or injuries and help all members of the family.
I have been on the hospital staff at Sharp Chula Vista Medical
Center since 2000 to present. Like my partner, Dr. Monahan,
I welcome you as a patient to our practice.
Languages Spoken: English, Ilocano, Spanish, Tagalog
Handicap accessible - additional separate van entrance
Commercial Driver Examinations
Immigration Examinations
Sports Physical - High School and College
Pre-employment and Drug Screening - See
Worker's Compensation
Visa and Foreign Service Examinations and Certification -
See Travel
Executive Physical Examinations - See
Worker's Compensation
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