About The Doctors

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About Dr. Bernard-Pearl

Deirdre Bernard-Pearl, MD studied nutrition as an undergraduate at Cornell University and received her medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine, where she co-founded the Stanford Alternative Health Collective.  She completed her internship and residency training in Pediatrics at Childrens Hospital Oakland.  She has been on the full-time Pediatrics faculty at UCSF and has worked as a hospitalist in New York City.

Dr. Bernard-Pearl has additional training in counseling, supportive/expressive group psychotherapy, self-hypnosis, homeopathy, herbal medicine, and Functional medicine.  She is board-certified in Pediatrics, a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, a member of the American Botanical Council and the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. She is the mother of twin boys Josh and Kai and their sister Rachel.

Amy Maidenberg


Dr. Bernard-Pearl collaborates with other health care professionals (“Sister Practices”) in the area in order to provide the best care for her patients.

About Dr. Maidenberg (Sage Pediatrics)

Amy Maidenberg, MD studied human growth and development as an undergraduate at University of Michigan and received her medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She completed her internship and residency training in Pediatrics at Seattle Children’s Hospital. She was on the teaching faculty at University of Washington Medical School and directed the Reach Out and Read literacy program for Pacific Medical Centers. She is currently on staff at the Oakland Children’s Hospital where she sees patients and teaches residents in the urgent care clinic.

Dr. Maidenberg has additional training in nutrition, herbal medicine, motivational interviewing, and self-hypnosis. She is board-certified in Pediatrics, a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and a member of the Lactation Committee at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center.

Affiliations

Both Drs. Bernard-Pearl and Maidenberg are affiliated with Childrens Hospital Oakland and Alta Bates Summit Medical Center. We also can refer children for care at University of California San Francisco, California Pacific Medical Center, Eden Medical Center, and Stanford Medical Center.

What is our philosophy?

We believe that nutrition and stress play an enormous role in health, and have been studying these areas along with conventional medicine for the past 20 years.

We believe the body’s innate healing abilities are more powerful than is often acknowledged, and sometimes what is most needed is getting out of the way of natural processes and finding ways to support these processes.

We believe that vaccination is a powerful preventive tool but that families deserve to have an open dialogue with us so that they may choose the schedule that is best for their individual child.

We believe that integrating various healing methods with conventional medicine often leads to improved health.

We believe that our role as physicians is as teacher and guide, and parents are the decision makers about their lifestyle choices and health care choices for their young children.