Dr. Keyur Vaikunth Patel, MD

I completed my medical training in Syracuse, NY. I enjoyed my time in upstate New York, but looked forward to returning home to sunny Southern California. I initially joined a private practice nephrology group in Southern California, but after a careful reassessment of my family and career goals, I decided to become part of the Kaiser Permanente team.

Why I Went Into Medicine

While in school, I had always loved science, and particularly physiology. I was fascinated with the function of the human body. Choosing a career in science seemed natural to me. I chose medicine because I wanted to make a difference in the lives of the people I treated; developing a strong patient-physician relationship was of core importance.

Why Nephrology?

During my second year of internal medicine residency, I had a one-month elective in nephrology. At that time, the medicine department required residents to take night call for nephrology. I initially dreaded the thought of these calls since nephrology was …so complex and I had only just completed my internship. Sure enough, every night that I was on call, I was summoned to the hospital for urgent consultations. As I performed these consultations, each patient became more and more interesting. I found myself in the medicine department library at 4:00 AM reading textbook after textbook regarding renal failure. I felt that if the specialty of nephrology had the ability to keep me so focused at 4:00 in the morning, then this was a field I must pursue. That month of nephrology was also when the Chief of Nephrology was on service. He quickly became aware of my interest in the field and encouraged me to apply for fellowship training in nephrology at our program in Syracuse. I was accepted to the program and to this day, I find the field more exciting than ever.

My Philosophy on Healing

I believe that it is essential to develop strong patient-physician relationships. This will help increase patients’ understanding of their health and encourage better compliance with the physicians’ recommendations.

Why I Joined Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente has many resources for its patients. As a physician, I routinely use these resources to provide better health care for my patients. We have numerous medical specialties at our facility, and our integrated health information system improves quality of care for patients.

Personal Interests

I enjoy traveling, mountain biking, and spending as much time as I possibly can with my family.