Professional Patient Advocates

Gwen Stritter, MD
650-851-0377, Fax 650-851-0343
www.strittermed.org
Portola Valley, CA 94028-8125

From Dr. Stritter's information packet: "My purpose is to supplement—not replace—the relationship between you and your health care provider with an in-depth analysis of your case.  I seek to put you more fully in charge of your health by providing you with all the latest information available, and discussing it with you so that you truly understand what it means.  Then you can arrive at your appointments well-informed and well-prepared with questions and ideas"

What Dr. Stritter Does:

• Ensures that my patients receive the highest quality health care (“highest quality” being defined by the patient and not by me)
• Aims for truly optimal, comprehensive, no stone left unturned, pull-out-all-the-stops health care
• Puts patients in charge of their own cases by:
  • Helping them learn everything they can about their condition
  • Doing intensive case-specific research and then reporting back to them in language they can understand
  • Helping them assemble the best medical team—often by locating and arranging referral to local, national or international experts
  • Helping them manage their doctor-patient relationships so they can direct their physicians more effectively
  • Helping them understand and choose between the various treatment options; acting as a sounding board for new treatment ideas
  • Helping them integrate evidenced-based complementary and alternative treatment approaches into their treatment plan
  • Helping them cut through clinic/hospital/insurance red tape

Dr. Stritter is especially interested in helping those with breast cancer.

Mark Renneker, MD
415-681-5357
San Francisco

Doctors and others who know Dr. Renneker think he is an excellent patient advocate. However, the average waiting time for an appointment with him may be 2 months, more or less, but you can try him. Dr. Renneker purposely does not have a website. If you want more information, contact his office.

Dr. Renneker is a board-certified, university-affiliated family physician with a broad training in virtually all fields of medicine. He has special expertise in cancer, inner-city medicine, preventive medicine, behavioral medicine, geriatrics, sports medicine, consultative medicine, integrative medicine (combining traditional/conservative medicine with alternative/complementary approaches), …and patient advocacy.  Dr. Renneker has trained a few other doctors to work as patient advocates, including Dr. Gwen Stritter whom he considers an excellent advocate.

Dr. Renneker says he will be a physician in your corner, your own personal consultant, researcher and advocate, working to help you gain the information you need to be in complete charge of your case.  He will help you find and receive the best possible treatments.  He says he practices “optimistic medicine.”  “No matter how desperate or hopeless a situation may appear, there are always new things to try.”