Meet Jaya Karnani, M.D. –
Family Medicine

It is often said that world travel is one of the best forms of education. A person’s native culture could be compared to the spine of a book, but it is each chapter that makes up the various rich experiences from the cultures in which one has traveled. Growing up, Jaya Karnani, M.D. had the opportunity to experience travel and culture first-hand. She was born in India and moved to Malaysia at the age of two, where she describes growing up in a multi-cultural epicenter. Her classrooms were filled with international students of all religions and racial backgrounds. In addition, her father worked in the airline industry, so travel was a common family pastime.

During high school, Dr. Karnani’s life took a turn when her aunt (who she was very close to) suffered a severe illness and the family spent extensive time in the hospital supporting her during treatment. It was there that her interest for medicine was sparked and she decided to become the first doctor in the family, fueled by the desire to help her family and anyone in need of medical treatment.

She attended medical school at Kasturba Medical College in Manipal, India. After completing her schooling, she practiced for one year in a rural town in India – an experience to this day she cites as an awakening to how resourceful doctors can be in third world countries where technology and equipment are not always accessible.

In order to be closer to some of her relatives, she moved to the United States where she completed her residency at Fort Wayne Medical in Indiana; but after spending four years in the cold Midwest, she decided to move west to a much warmer California. She opened her family care private practice in Sacramento, where she delivered babies and developed close relationships with the many families she treated.

What Dr. Karnani enjoys most about family medicine is being an advocate and truly caring for the whole family. “It’s nice to see grandma on one day and her grandchild the next day. I have a unique opportunity to develop relationships with the whole family,” says Dr. Karnani. “There have been days when grandma comes in for an appointment and her blood pressure is elevated, and I know that it is probably stress related because her grandson has an ear infection that won’t go away. If mom comes in complaining about fatigue and lack of sleep, I know it’s because the baby has colic and is keeping her up all night.” She considers it both pride and privilege to get to know and earn the respect and trust of an entire family.

Dr. Karnani closed her private practice as she was getting married. She wanted to relocate to the Bay Area where her husband, an engineer, resided. She chose to work at Bay Valley Medical Group because of the commonality in practice philosophy: the primary goal being to provide excellent, quality care for her patients.

Recreationally, Dr. Karnani and her husband enjoy spending most of their free time in the outdoors. Whether its tennis, hiking or a weekend getaway to the beaches of Monterey, she loves experiencing nature and wildlife. And on weekends when the weather might not permit a pleasant hike, Dr. Karnani ventures into San Francisco to find an eclectic restaurant that will satisfy her multi-cultural cravings.