The SkepDoc
Credentials
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Disclaimer: I’m putting this page on the website only because people keep asking me for my credentials. I don’t think credentials mean much. There are Harvard-educated MDs and PhDs with impressive credentials who have written reams of nonsense, and there are people like James Randi who didn’t go to college but whose writings are consistently reliable and rigorously based on fact and reason. I hope no one accepts anything I write just because I’m an MD. Writings should be judged on their own merits: on what they say, not on who wrote them.

 
• Born July 2, 1945, in St. Louis; grew up in Seattle, Washington.
• Roosevelt High School, Seattle, 1962.
• Junior Year in Spain, New York University, 1964-5.
• B.A., magna cum laude, Spanish language and literature, University of Washington, 1966.
• M.D., University of Washington School of Medicine, 1970.
• Rotating “0” internship, David Grant USAF Medical Center, Travis Air Force Base, California, 1970-71.
• Licensed to practice in Washington State since 1971.
• Family practice residency, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, 1977-79.
• Board certified in family practice 1979.
• Aerospace Medicine Primary Course (training to be a flight surgeon), Brooks Air Force Base, Texas, 1979.
• Air Force officer 1969-89, various positions at Air Force bases in Spain and in the US, including General Medical Officer, Chief of Aerospace Medicine, Chief of Aeromedical Services, Chief of Clinic Services, and Director of Base Medical Services. Retired as a full colonel.
• Retired since 1989.
• Started writing in 2002, first published article 2003. Current positions include:
  • Regular column "The SkepDoc" in Skeptic magazine
  • Contributing editor, Skeptic magazine
  • Contributing editor, Skeptical Inquirer magazine
  • Monthly column "The Health Inspector" in O, The Oprah Magazine from  January to June, 2010
  • One of the editors of The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine
  • Science-Based Medicine blog - editor and one of 5 founding MDs, write an article every Tuesday
  • Medical Advisor and author of articles on the Quackwatch website
  • On the faculty of The Skeptic's Toolbox workshop starting in August 2009
  • A Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and a member of the Executive Council
  • Founding fellow and board member emeritus of the Institute for Science in Medicine
  • Editorial review board, Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database
  • Award for Outstanding Contributions to Science and Skepticism, Center for Inquiry Independent Investigations Group, 2010

• I’m married to a retired Air Force officer and we have two grown daughters, no grandchildren. We’ve lived in Puyallup, Washington since 1987.
• If you’re wondering how I spent my time between retiring from the Air Force in 1989 and starting to write in 2002, I spent it raising my kids (who were 4 and 6 when I retired) and continuing my education by reading voraciously.
 

More information about my career and my life can be found in my book:
Women Aren’t Supposed to Fly: The Memoirs of a Female Flight Surgeon.