Guest – Ann Haiden


Doctor Haiden came to the practice of medicine via an unusual route. She was a graphic designer by training, graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a B.A. in art. However, when she was twenty-seven, she discovered she had breast cancer. She learned a lot during that experience and ultimately decided that she wanted to become a physician.

She went on to earn her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, graduating in 1994 in the top 10 percent of her class. She returned to California and completed her residency in Internal Medicine at the Kaiser Permanente Hospital in San Francisco and became board certified. She practiced at Kaiser Permanente in Vallejo for nine years in the Internal Medicine department and Spine Clinic.

As the story unfolds, over time, she developed fatigue, muscle and back pain, headaches, chemical sensitivities, and a number of puzzling symptoms that defied diagnosis and treatment. This was quite discouraging and disabling. She was finally able to regain her health with an integrative approach that focused on the root of the problem. This approach included nutrition, balancing the intricate system of the gut, strengthening mitochondrial function, paying attention to genetic predisposition, and a variety of mind-body methods. As a bonus, she lost weight effortlessly for the first time in her life!

She is now in private practice offering an integrative and progressive, functional medicine approach.