FAQs Archive - Lone Tree Family Practice

Q: What are your outside interests?

Spending time with family and friends attending concerts, training for endurance events or just being outside biking, hiking or snowboarding. I also enjoy cooking, crocheting and painting. Like a lot of my patients, I’m still trying to master the art of juggling work and family as my son was born in late 2020. I try to enjoy the Colorado outdoors with my family, including our dog Stinger.

Q: Why did you join Lone Tree Family Medicine?

Although Dr. Chester Cedars is now retired from Lone Tree Family Medicine, he was my family’s primary care physician. He delivered my baby brother. When I was heading off to college, Dr. Cedars was one of my biggest supporters. He told me I would have a job waiting at Lone Tree Family Medicine when I got my medical degree. And here I am.

Q: What was your education and career path like?

I like to think I am the “queen of odd jobs.” I started working when I was 16 and haven’t stopped. I served for six years as an F-16 avionics specialist with the Colorado Air National Guard while pursuing my college degree. People sometimes ask how that job relates to medicine. In both careers, there’s always a need to fix something, so a lot of problem-solving happens. Just prior to medical school, I was working for an aviation insurance brokerage and knew that insurance was not the career for me. I got my EMT basic license, took the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and started applying to medical schools.

Q: What can patients expect when they come to see you?

I’m a pretty open and direct person. I have been exposed to various traumatic events at a young age, and I use those experiences to build trust with my patients. Many of us have dealt with some level of trauma in our lives like a divorce or financial hardship. I find that patients are more willing to open up to me when they know that I’ve overcome my own hardships. I partner with patients who are at risk for chronic diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure, helping them make lifestyle changes to stay well. And if you’re like many Americans who already have one or more of these illnesses, I can help you find the right balance of medications, physical activity and diet to improve your health.

Q: What do you enjoy most about being a family physician?

I love providing care for all members of a family, from newborns to parents and grandparents. It allows me to really get to know my patients and be a partner in their care through all stages of life. It also means variety. In any given day I’m vaccinating children, doing well-woman exams, using osteopathic manipulation to ease muscle aches and pains, and helping patients make lifestyle changes to improve their health and manage chronic conditions.

Q: What attracted you to osteopathic medicine?

The summer before my senior year of college, I went on a university-sponsored trip to China. I was among a group of students who visited three different provinces to learn more about traditional Chinese medicine. Their practices of using complementary or alternative therapies like acupuncture and herbal medicines have been around for thousands of years. I was intrigued by this holistic approach to health and well-being. People in China have no problem combining traditional practices with Western medicine when appropriate. I, too, felt there was a place for both approaches. When I learned that osteopathic medicine embraced a holistic approach, I knew that was the medical degree for me. As a doctor of osteopathic medicine, I’m trained in osteopathic manipulation, an approach that’s similar to physical therapy. Patients are often surprised at how a simple adjustment can alleviate an ache or solve another problem. While I don’t personally offer therapies like acupuncture, I fully support their use and have excellent referral connections for my patients.

Q: Dr. Linares, who were some of the adults who inspired you as a child?

Dr. Linares: I had a biology teacher who really believed in me. I shared with him that I wanted to be a doctor and he’s like, of course, absolutely. So, when you have an adult like that who absolutely believes 100 percent that you can do this thing that nobody in your family has done, well, it was life-changing for me. Another adult who affected me a lot was my stepmom. My stepmom was a very strong woman. She worked her whole life. She worked very hard, but she was always composed and pulled together. And, she just kind of showed me what a working woman could look like taking care of her kids and being very professional at the same time.

Q: You spent time before med school living in New York City where you were a social worker at low-income apartment building. What was that like?

Dr. Linares: It was an old Times Square hotel that was being renovated to house low-income people. There were very ill people living there, squatting there and there was a lot of mental illness, some addiction and they were living in very poor circumstances. It was a perspective that I had never seen growing up in a small town in Ohio. To see the depth of need in that place consolidated my desire to help people and my drive to become a doctor.

Q: You wear many different hats in the medical field. Can you walk us through those?

Dr. Linares: Sure, I’m family physician and co-owner of Lone Tree Family Practice. At Sky Ridge Medical Center I am chair of family medicine and I’ve been there for 17 ½ years. I’m also involved with the Colorado Medical Society and president of my county chapter, as well. I think it’s important to be involved in other parts of medicine, other than patient care, because it gives me a good perspective as to what’s going on in the hospital and a political perspective as to what’s going on in our state around healthcare. I just think it’s very important to keep apprised of what’s going on in the bigger world of medicine.

Q: Fast Facts/By the numbers

What is the age of the oldest patient you treat? 92 What is the age of the youngest patient you treat? A few months old First thing you want to do post COVID: Listen to music outside at a concert What’s your favorite type of music? Rock and roll, blues, jazz. Mostly rock and roll. Last book read: Daring Greatly by Brené Brown What are your favorite movies of all time? Forest Gump, Ballroom Dancing Bucket list travel destinations? Glacier National Park, Greece, Italy, Viet Nam, Cambodia If you could do anything else for a living, what would it be? I honestly don’t know because I’m doing what I always wanted to do and have never thought about doing anything else. I guess I’m lucky that way. Who/what is your spirit animal? Wild mustang If you could have lunch with any person living or dead, who would it be? Michelle Obama

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