Dr. Mark Jeffrey Provda, MD

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About Me

My father always wanted to go into medicine, but being a child of the depression, he could not afford going to college, let alone medical school. The closest he came was being a medic during his four years in the Army in World War II. Fortunately, he did well enough following the war to make it possible for me to pursue what he could not, a career in medicine. I know it made him happy for me to go into medicine, but it is a career that I also wanted: intellectually challenging, interpersonally rewarding, and emotionally gratifying.

I have been practicing emergency medicine at the Kaiser Permanente Walnut Creek facility since 1978. During this time the facility has grown tremendously, and emergency medicine, which was just in its beginning stages when I started, has now become a well-established specialty. The average length of an emergency physician career in private practice is 10 years, but at Kaiser Permanente I have found a place where I feel …that I can continue to practice my specialty for the foreseeable future. This is due to many reasons, but two are most prominent: the collegial atmosphere both within my department and other consulting Specialists, and the truly nice patients that I get to know, however briefly, day in and day out. While the emergency room can be undoubtedly stressful at times, working with patients and their families that are appreciative makes all the difference.

When I am not working, I like to relax with my wife and two teenage boys. I have a particular fondness for movies. I tend to go the theater in preference to watching at home—there is something special about the big screen. I have had a long-term interest in the martial arts, beginning with karate in high school, which I later taught while in college to help pay my way. I switched to the Chinese martial arts, Kung-fu and Tai Chi, when I moved to the Bay Area in 1975, and after all these years I still have the same sifu (teacher). I love to ski. I go to the mountains any chance I can get in the winter (another great thing about emergency medicine is that I can often go in the mid-week, avoiding the crowds). My latest passion is golf, which currently is more frustrating than rewarding, but I'm hopeful!

In addition to seeing patients for the department of Emergency, I also serve as Co-Chair of the Emergency Preparedness Committee.