about us
our staff
GetzWell Pediatrics has redefined the practice of pediatric medicine. We are the doctors of choice for families seeking integrative health care and provide an unprecedented level of accessibility and personalized attention. At GetzWell we categorically reject the usual turnstile approach to medical services, as it isn't the best way to care for kids (or anyone, for that matter).
Some wonder why we have adopted a fee for service structure rather than opting to be paid in the usual way by patients insurance companies. The reason is that our twenty-first century integrative approach is fundamentally at odds with the insurance based medical model which perpetuates a quick fix culture, discouraging meaningful relationships between families and their doctors. By remaining out of network, GetzWell's doctors and patients collaborate to make important decisions about their health without interference from insurers. As a result, the quality of care at GetzWell is unsurpassed.
Insurers are relegated to a still important but secondary role whereby they cover some primary care costs plus emergencies, severe illness and catastrophic matters. Moreover, although GetzWell operates on a fee for service basis, most of our patients with PPO insurance receive some, often significant, reimbursement from their insurers for the services we provide (subject to the specific terms of each policy).
Our mission is based on the conviction that parents and talented health care professionals, not insurance companies, should decide how kids are cared for. This is why we are out of network.
Julia Getzelman, MD, FAAP
Julia Getzelman, M.D. founded GetzWell Pediatrics in 2008 based on the belief that an integrative approach to pediatric care which combines the best of conventional and complementary medicine is the wisest approach to health optimization and the treatment of illness in kids.
Dr. Getzelman graduated with a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Stanford University with distinction and Phi Beta Kappa. She later earned her medical degree from Yale University and completed her residency at Children's Hospital Oakland. Thereafter, she was an attending physician in the neonatal intensive care unit and pediatric clinic at Highland, Oakland's county hospital and also worked at After Hour Pediatrics in San Mateo. In the 5 years before founding GetzWell, she practiced at Saint Luke's Health Care Center in the Mission where she provided whole kid care to over 1200 patients. She is board certified in pediatrics and is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Dr. Getzelman embraces the many components that contribute to health and illness: nutrition, physical activity, emotional/psychological stresses, and the environment, among others. She has a special interest in how nutrition and intestinal health contribute to overall wellness. To that end, she has completed the core curriculum of the Institute of Functional Medicine, located in Gig Harbor, Washington. Dr. Getzelman has additional training in homeopathy, homeopathic detoxification, and applied nutritional biochemistry/food as medicine.
Dr. Getzelman grew up in California and was the oldest of five children. She loves the outdoors and is fascinated by nature. She comes from a musical family, has sung in a variety of venues over the years, and decided recently to rediscover the piano after a long hiatus. She has a passion for romance languages and is fluent in Spanish and Italian. Dr. Getzelman lives in the Mission District with her husband and step-son.
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Allyson La Barbara, MD, FAAP
Dr. Allyson La Barbara graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Biology from Wellesley College. She went on to perform two years of cancer research at UCSF, investigating ways to make cancer treatments more effective and less toxic to healthy tissues. She later attended medical school at UCSF, graduating with an award for outstanding academic achievement. Thereafter, Dr. La Barbara completed her pediatric residency training at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University.
Following residency, Dr. La Barbara worked as an attending hospitalist and transport physician at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. In this role, she cared for hospitalized children on the pediatric ward and in the intensive care unit. She also supervised the transport of critically ill children. Additionally, since completing her training at Stanford, she has served as an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UCSF, where she teaches weekly courses for the medical students.
Dr. La Barbara is a fourth generation San Franciscan who currently lives in SoMa
with her husband. Her professional interests include homeopathy, nutrition, and
the connection between anxiety/stress and health. Personally, she loves travel,
hiking, biking, and cooking with her husband. She has studied Italian and Spanish
and is currently learning French (her husband’s native language).
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Colleen Panina, MD, FAAP
After graduating from Stanford University, Colleen Panina, M.D. taught high school geometry at Sacred Heart Cathedral in San Francisco. Dr. Panina earned her medical degree at St. Louis University and graduated cum laude. She went on to complete her internship and residency at Children’s Hospital Oakland, where she was named Outstanding Intern. While at Children’s Hospital Oakland she also completed a two year fellowship in infectious disease. Most recently, she has been a member of the pediatric hospitalist service at California Pacific Medical Center. She is board certified and is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Dr. Panina is a native San Franciscan. She is married and is the mother
of three children. In her spare time she likes to coach high school women’s
basketball.
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Marcella Spera, MD, FAAP
Marcella Spera, M.D. grew up in New York City. After earning her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, Dr. Spera completed medical school at Penn State University College of Medicine, where she decided on a career in pediatrics. She subsequently moved to New Mexico to enter her pediatric residency at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM. During this period, Dr. Spera also served the Native American population through the Indian Health Service, did advocacy work for the local immigrant community in New Mexico, and served as a volunteer doctor in Brazil, Cuba, and Costa Rica. In the final year of her residency, Dr. Spera was appointed Education Chief and received an "Excellence in Teaching" award upon completion of her pediatric residency.
Upon completion of her residency, Dr. Spera worked for the emergency department at the UC San Diego Children's Hospital as an urgent care physician. After a year, she relocated to San Francisco and has practiced as a hospitalist and adolescent medicine physician at Children's Hospital Oakland and Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley. From 2006 through 2008 she also provided pediatric medical services through La Clinica de la Raza in Oakland.
Dr. Spera has a strong and longstanding interest in nutrition having been raised as
a vegetarian in a macrobiotic household. Dr. Spera's interests include the science of
nutrition (food as medicine), the mind-body connection, adolescent and public/environmental
health. She is board certified in pediatrics and a member of the American Academy of
Pediatrics. In her free time, Dr. Spera practices yoga and loves to travel and photograph
the world. She is fluent in Italian and Spanish.
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Emily Novak Waight, RN, MSN, CPNP
Emily Novak Waight, Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (CPNP), was awarded both an RN and a Master's of Science Degree in Advanced Practice Pediatric Nursing from Yale University with a concentration in primary care. While at Yale she became a member of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, Delta Mu chapter.
Emily first realized her interest in pediatric medicine while pursuing her Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology at Connecticut College when she spent a semester abroad in Thailand volunteering with Burmese refugees in a pediatric unit of a Thai Public Hospital. She recently relocated to the Bay Area from New York City, where for four years in her capacity as CPNP she was a primary care provider at Park Avenue Pediatrics and New York Foundling, where she worked with youth and teens within New York City's foster care system. Emily loves providing care for children of all ages and especially adolescents.
Emily enjoys practicing yoga, running, reading and cooking. Most of all she takes pleasure in spending time with her husband and one-year-old daughter.
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Sharon Epel, LMFT
Sharon Epel, LMFT, earned a BA and an MA in English from UC Berkeley and UCLA and received her Masters in Counseling from San Francisco State University, with an emphasis on Marriage, Family and Child Counseling. As a psychotherapist she specializes in parenting and family issues and has worked with families, couples, individuals and children in clinics, schools, and her private practice in San Francisco. Sharon provides education, support and counseling in helping parents and children thrive. She is dedicated to assisting parents to find and maintain a sure foothold on the tumultuous and joyful journey of parenthood, from infancy to adolescence. Prior to becoming a licensed marriage and family therapist, Sharon put those English degrees to work in journalism. She was a writer and editor for publications such as Parenting magazine and BabyCenter.com, where she wrote about topics ranging from what children learn from their parents' relationship to how new parents can survive the NICU.
Sharon uses an interactive approach in her parenting classes, giving parents the chance to provide each other with support and hard-earned wisdom. She is certified in teaching Positive-Discipline parenting using the work of Jane Nelson, and has additional training in Dr. Ross Greene's Collaborative Problem Solving for parents and children.
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