Susan Chiriboga, M.D.

PHYSICIAN Q&A
Susan Chiriboga, M.D. juggles medicine and motherhood

One HMF doctor maintains an informal pediatrics laboratory right at home —she’s the mother of four preschoolers!

Name?

Susan Chiriboga, M.D.

Which is . . . Irish?

Actually, Chiriboga is a Spanish Basque name. It’s pronounced “sheer-ee-BO-gah,” although emergency room staff members have pronounced it every way imaginable!

Why pediatrics?

Pediatrics is about families and fostering the relationship between parents and children. We get the thrill of watching that relationship develop and grow just as our young patients are growing.

Your undergraduate degree is in cybernetics. Isn’t that the basis for all those “Terminator” movies?

Those were cyborgs! Cybernetics is a term coined back in the 1940s that refers to the application of mathematical models to biological systems. Think robotics or 3-D radiological imaging.

Did you grow up in the area? Or relocate to attend UCLA?

I grew up in West Los Angeles and volunteered on a pediatric ward while in high school. That’s when I became interested in medicine, and in pediatrics. I attended the neighboring UCLA for my undergraduate degree and medical school, then moved to Tucson for the University of Arizona Pediatric Residency Program. My husband is a family medicine physician, and now we live in Glendora.

You’ve worked for other organizations. What makes HMF different?

I previously worked at a large multispecialty staff-model group practice. At HMF, physicians enjoy autonomy in the operation of each office, while not having to deal with billing and negotiating contracts, in essence, private practice with half the headache. We get to practice medicine.

What do you do outside the office?

Before we had children, I enjoyed gardening. I hiked down to the falls in Havasu canyon, cycled through France’s wine country, and experimented with exotic recipes.

Now, having just survived the toddler years, gardening is still on temporary hold as my kids tend to uproot my plants while I’m trying to weed. Our travels are limited to parks and zoos and aquariums—anywhere they won’t fall off some cliff. At mealtime, the special of the day (every day) is American comfort food.

Any new year’s resolutions?

All the traditional favorites—lose weight, exercise more, organize the family photos—but the real goal is to cherish those grubby tight hugs, wet kisses and voices saying “Mommy, I love you”.

Art Linkletter built a career on the fact that “kids say the darndest things.” What’s the darndest thing one of your patients said?

For several years, I worked in a practice with a male nurse. One four-year-old girl who had grown up in my practice asked me if all doctors were girls and all nurses were boys.