Dr. Margaret Mingti Guo, MD

Other Languages I speak: Mandarin

I was born in Chicago of immigrant parents. Then, we moved back to Taiwan for 12 years before returning to the United States when I was 14. This experience allows me to be bilingual now.

I went to UC Berkeley for my undergraduate degree in Chemistry. I met my husband there and I got married within one week of college graduation. Then we moved to Baltimore for more education.

I first obtained a PhD in 1995 from the Department of Pharmacology at Johns Hopkins University. Then I went to SUNY Stony Brook Medical School and obtained my MD degree in 1999. After 3 years of residency in internal medicine at Duke University and Stanford University, I was ready to practice as a Hospitalist. I came to Kaiser Permanente in 2002 after finishing my residency.

Being a Hospitalist is a relatively new specialty of physicians who take care of hospitalized, acutely ill patients. Hospitalists function as primary care physicians for the acutely ill patients in the …hospital. I coordinate the care plan with a team of specialists, nurses, physical therapists, nutritionists, and discharge planners. Being hospitalized and in declining health is frightening to most people. I feel that it is my job to help patients and families understand the diagnosis and prognosis of the illness to the best of my abilities. I enjoy the challenge of helping an ill patient improve and return to his/her previous level of health. Upon discharge, I will convey the information from the hospital to primary care physicians for the continuation of the patient's care.

I didn't dream of becoming a doctor when I was a child. In fact, I went to Medical School with the intention of returning to medical research. However, life pointed me in a different direction. I found that helping patients and families to understand their illness to be very rewarding. Being a Hospitalist allows me to make a large impact on the care of the patient.

Due to the nature of hospital medicine, I am frequently speaking with patients and their families after a life-altering event such as a stroke or diagnosis of cancer. I feel that it is important to provide patients and families accurate medical information and to assist in making medical decisions which are consistent with the patient's goals.