Skip to main content

Kathleen Romito, MD

Faculty

Kathleen Portrait

Kathleen received her BS in Microbiology from the University of California-Berkeley, and her MD from the University of California, San Diego. As a family physician, she brings a solid educational foundation in science, 19 years of clinical experience, 8 years of specialization in patient education and shared decision making, and 3 years of Family Medicine medical student/resident education to contribute to the Genetics Counseling program.

Practicing full-spectrum family medicine, she educates patients and their families about complex health issues that had medical, psychological, social and ethical components. The issues ranged from prenatal care to end-of-life issues.  Daily, she collaborates with other health care consultants, communicating both in-person, and via technology, and also helps to bridge the communication gaps between patients and their teams of consultants.  As genetics expands into the primary care setting, her experience will help genetic counseling students gain a thorough understanding of the practical and ethical components needed for successful inter-professional collaboration.

Administratively, her career focus has been on high-quality patient education, with a focus on accuracy, plain language, shared decision making, and clinical implementation/medical informatics. Teaching has been a component of all of her professional activities.  In practice, she has mentored numerous medical and PA students, and provided ongoing supervision for physician assistants.  While developing patient education, she provides clinical education and support for writers and editors on a daily basis. Additionally, Kathleen has provided educational support for large client groups, both via webinars and in person.  Weekly precepting at the Family Medicine Residency clinic allowed her to teach medical students and residents, both in real-time with patients, and with regularly scheduled mini-seminars. She has the expertise to teach written and oral communication skills in a professional medical setting and to guide students as they develop excellent inter-professional collaborative skills.

Courses:

  • GENCOUN 542 Professional Issues II