Family Medicine
In May of 1994, while living in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Mark Berenson decided it would be fun to join the local ski patrol. Within days, he was enrolled in a Winter Emergency Care class at the local community college and had unknowingly embarked on what was to become a fruitful career in medicine. It was during his remedial course work that he became intrigued by human physiology and in what seemed like an instant, decided to take his education to the extreme. He furthered his knowledge as an EMT and spent his subsequent undergraduate years volunteering for the local ambulance service in Fort Collins, Colorado. In 1999, after several years of studying Botany and Organic Chemistry, he graduated Cum Laude from Colorado State University and moved back to his hometown of New Orleans to attend medical school at Tulane University. In 2003, he moved to California to continue his training at the Sutter Family Medicine Residency of Santa Rosa.
While in residency, Dr. Berenson held on to his early interests in medicine and spent much of his free time in the Emergency Department and the Intensive Care Unit. Upon completion of his formal training, he became a Board Certified Family Physician with a passion for acute care. In 2006, he began working in the Emergency Department at Sonoma Valley Hospital where he continues to care for patients today. He also works in the inpatient setting at Sonoma Valley Hospital where he regularly attends the Hospitalist service. In January, 2010, in an effort to expand his medical practice, Dr. Berenson joined Care Practice where he sees both acute and primary care patients in the most comfortable of office settings.
Since completing residency, Dr. Berenson has become a member of the UCSF Clinical Faculty as an instructor of Inpatient Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital. He is on the medical staff of Mendocino Coast District Hospital where he has worked as a Hospitalist for several years. He is also on the medical staff at California Pacific Medical Center where he continues to work as a Hospitalist at the Davies Campus.
Complimenting his work in acute care, Dr. Berenson has an appreciation for homeostasis and the power of self healing. His practice targets the source of disease while promoting optimal nutrition, behavioral change, and self-motivated maneuvers to allow for the renewal of health. Other medical interests include treatment of anxiety, sleep disorders, and opiate dependence as well as nutritional counseling and second opinions on unrelenting medical mysteries. When not providing direct patient care, Dr. Berenson is particularly excited about the future of technology and it’s application in medicine. Beyond medicine, Dr. Berenson loves to sail the sea and ski the snow. You might also find him playing deep, soulful house music as a DJ in San Francisco.
In the fifteen plus years since he began his career in medicine, Dr. Berenson has developed a simple perspective when caring for patients. His goal with each encounter is to provide a comfortable and open environment where patients become educated and empowered to reach their therapeutic goals.
