Karan Julka, MD, Pulmonary Medicine

My decision to become a doctor was settled while I was still a teenager. When I was 16, my aunt (who was a physician) told me there was a job opening at a nursing home. I got the job and it involved visiting with the elderly, helping them and making them feel better by spending time with them, playing cards and just interacting. I did that every day Monday-through-Friday and one weekend each month until I graduated and went off to college. What I got from it was that listening is the most important thing you can do and seeing how the doctors and nurses interacted with the patients really showed me what being a doctor was all about.

I like every aspect of Pulmonology and of caring for patients both in a clinic setting and a hospital setting. As a pulmonologist I specialize in diseases and disorders of the lungs, so I see a variety of patient from those with COPD to those with asthma, pneumonia, people with unexplained coughs or shortness of breath, lung cancer and pulmonary hypertension.

I like the long-term relationships that develop as part of pulmonary care and also the special procedures I can do to help my patients. Finding the right pulmonologist is important, so I want to meet with people face-to-face and get to see if we are a good fit. I am an easy going doctor. I don’t wear a watch and I don’t watch the clock. I try to care for my patients as I would care for my own family. I speak to them as a partner in their health care. We make decisions together and I want them to know that I am on their side. I am not just trying to hurry up and get to the next case.

I am a doctor who cares about my patients and at the end of the day, that’s what makes a good doctor: you care.

This is part of the reason I chose to join NorthBay Healthcare. I like the mission to provide compassionate care and advanced medicine close to home and also it is a nonprofit, which is important to me.

When I am not at work, I enjoy running and I play tennis. I like to be outdoors and enjoy camping and hiking the trails with my family and the wonderful thing about California is that you can do those things pretty much all year long.