Dr. Joseph Paul Luftman

My name is Joseph Luftman and I'm proud to be a Kaiser Permanente physician. I pride myself on being a good clinician and teacher. I am the director of the sports medicine program at our hospital and am currently on faculty at the UCLA School of Medicine, as an assistant clinical professor of family medicine. On a daily basis I am actively giving hands-on instruction to medical students, primarily from UCLA and USC, resident physicians, and clinical fellows.

Biography
I was born and raised in Southern California. I attended undergraduate and medical school in Los Angeles and completed my residency at Kaiser Permanente, where I currently work. I spent a couple of years at UCLA studying and learning Sports Medicine, but was very happy to return to Kaiser Permanente in 2001. I chose medicine as my profession after working as an emergency medical technician at a local emergency room during college. My wife is also a Kaiser Permanente physician and I have two young children.

About …my practice
I currently have a practice that combines two specialties; family medicine and sports medicine. I spend about half of my time caring for children, adults, and older patients as part of my family medicine practice. The other half of my time is spent as director of, and clinician in, the sports medicine program here at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center.

How I thrive
I am able to continue working hard and maintaining my health by staying active and watching my diet. I'm active with cycling, light weights, and golf. In terms of eating habits, I pride myself on following the three principles that I discuss with patients on a daily basis: small, frequent meals; limit simple carbs such as rice, bread, pastas, sugars, sodas; no eating three hours prior to bedtime.