As an OB/GYN, Chen appreciates the opportunity to bond with her patients and care for them through some of their most significant life events – from adolescence to motherhood and through menopause and beyond. “Establishing meaningful, long-term relationships is, for me, an indispensable part of a fulfilling medical career, and the idea of growing older together with my patients really appeals to me,” Chen explains.
Chen has a special interest in family planning and adolescent health and education. “One of the privileges of being an OB/GYN is helping a woman plan her fertility – both to achieve the family she wants and to avoid unintended pregnancies,” she says. In addition to obstetrics and family planning, she has received extensive training in gynecologic and pelvic surgery, including in minimally-invasive laparoscopic procedures.
Chen received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and her master’s degree in Medical Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. She earned her medical degree from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA, and completed residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at New York Presbyterian – Brooklyn Methodist Hospital in New York City.
An enthusiastic gardener and birder, Chen is excited about life in Sonora, and looks forward to keeping chickens again. She enjoys cooking and baking, knitting and the fiber arts, and playing the harp. She and her partner, Paul Marum, are fond of Argentine tango dancing and scuba diving. Although Chen is a native Californian herself, moving to Sonora is a true return home for her partner, who was delivered in Sonora by Dr. Christopher Mills. Paul’s parents, Drs. Lawrence and Elizabeth Marum, both served Sonora in the 1980s as healthcare providers, prior to moving to Africa with their children where their careers in public health kept them for several decades. The whole family is now back in Sonora. “I think we will be very happy here,” Chen says. She and Marum plan to celebrate their wedding next spring.
More information can be obtained by calling Sierra OB/GYN at 209-536-3750.