Dr. Belen C Leong, MD

I wanted to be a physician from the time I was 5. My father, who dealt with a lot of physicians, brought a stethoscope and sphygmomanometer home for me to play with. Every time somebody got hurt in my neighborhood, I was the first kid to look at how others dealt with the "patient." My friends and I always played "house," and I end up being the doctor or the nurse or the mother with a sick kid. I’ve been able to fulfill my wish to help others every single day of the 18 years I have been with Kaiser Permanente as a physician. I was born in the Philippines, received a bachelor of science degree in pharmacy, and passed my medical board exams while I was earning my medical degree. After passing the medical board and completing an internship in my country, I became a missionary doctor in Thailand for one and a half years. I then migrated to the U.S. and did my pediatric residency and neurology fellowship at Loma Linda University Medical Center.