Heather Berndt, DO

About

Hometown: Redlands, CA

Medical School: Western University

Undergraduate School: UC Riverside

Life Before Medical School: Prior to medical school, I worked in a video store, participated in tissue engineering research with the goal of creating blood vessel transplants from a patient's own stem cells, and graduated from UCR with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. I also worked at Somerford Place of Redlands, an assisted-living facility for those with dementia, as an after-hours manager, caregiver, and medication technician simultaneously for 2.5 years.

Why Community Memorial? When I did my third-year clinical rotations here as part of the year-long track, I saw how passionate everyone was about supporting each other and prioritizing physical and mental wellbeing. I also loved seeing how much Community Memorial Healthcare cares about the community and helping people in need, and they offer many ways to participate such as through Street Medicine clinics and free sports physicals. I knew that I would be happiest here because I get to be close to the family I became a part of at Community Memorial Healthcare and my family in Southern California. I also want to practice OMM as a family medicine physician, and I knew I would get the best training to do so through the OMM track.

Hobbies: If I'm outdoors, I enjoy biking, kayaking, surfing, hiking, exploring new places, and lazy lounging/reading at the beach. Music is a major part of my life, and through singing and playing the ukulele I can express what I'm feeling while also bringing joy to others. I also enjoy keeping my hands busy through knitting, sewing, and other DIY projects. My favorite things to do to unwind after a busy day include reading before bed (mostly from my collection of >500 hard-copy books), watching comedies, mooching cuddles from other people's dogs, and scrolling through dog social media accounts.