Obstetrics & Gynecology at Oakland

Our Faculty

Program Director - Laura Minikel, MD

I was born in Wisconsin and attended medical school there at the Medical College of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. During my fourth year of medical school I went to Ghana in West Africa for 2 months and enjoyed the exposure to international medicine. I then came to Children's Hospital in Oakland, California to pursue a residency in Pediatrics, but soon realized that my calling was Obstetrics and Gynecology. My internship in pediatrics was enjoyable and taught me a vast amount that has helped me become a better physician for young women. I then entered my Obstetrics and Gynecology residency at Kaiser San Francisco. I was able to return to Ghana as a senior resident and I am still committed to international health.

I have been working as a general Obstetrician and Gynecologist at Kaiser Oakland since 2002. During that time I was fortunate to be able to be involved with the residency program and in 2006 served as the Assistant Program Director. I am very dedicated to teaching and have enjoyed teaching medical students who rotate with us from UCSF during their core third year clerkships as well as fourth year students from throughout the country and our own residents.

My commitment to community has been strong throughout my life and continues today. I am the contact person for Gynecologic surgery at Kaiser Oakland for an organization called Operation Access which provides free surgery for underinsured patients on weekends. Physicians, nurses, scrub techs, cleaning personnel, anesthesia providers and others all volunteer to allow this amazing project to continue.

Kaiser Permanente in Oakland has a diverse patient population as well as broad depth of experiences for residency training with specialists including Gynecologic Oncology, REI, Perinatology, UroGyn, Family Planning and Laparoscopy. I am honored to be able to direct the residency training program at Kaiser Oakland.

In my free time I enjoy spending time with friends and family and my husband Bent and his children. Volunteering, reading, teaching, cooking, and travel I am passionate about. I try to be more passionate about exercising. I enjoy any activity that includes the water, and I am very happy that I moved from one state to another and still can boast about the excellent cheese.

Chief of Obstetrics & Gynecology - Arlene Cosca, MD

I was born in Cavite City, Philippines at the Cosca Memorial Hospital and at the age of 2, moved to San Francisco. I grew up in the fog, attended Lowell High School and UC Berkeley, graduating with a BA in Physiology. Having interests in community and international medical issues, I pursued a Masters in Public Health at UC Berkeley .

I enjoy traveling and learning about different cultures and family dynamics. I’ve traveled to Japan, Thailand, and the Philippines to study family planning programs and learned that the woman was the backbone of the family. I realized that if I wanted to influence a family, I needed to strengthen the backbone. I defined my mission in Women’s Health and pursued my medical education at UCLA School of Medicine. I completed my residency training in Ob/Gyn at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and Kaiser San Francisco.

Medical Mission in the Philippines

I’ve worked for Kaiser since 1994 and cannot ask for a better place to work. At Kaiser, I have the opportunity to practice medicine and care for my patients with the state of the art diagnostic tools, treatments, and facilities. I work with an excellent group of physicians and surgeons who are in the forefronts of their field. The OB/GYN Department at Kaiser Oakland supports training in innovative surgical techniques. I have special interests in infertility treatments, operative laparoscopy, operative hysteroscopy, hydrothermation and minilaparotomy procedures. I have the opportunity to teach medical students from UCSF and most fondly, the OB/GYN residents at Kaiser Oakland. I continue to be involved in international public health as a member of the Philippine Medical Society of Northern California organizing and attending annual medical missions to underserved communities in the Philippines.

I spend all of my spare time with my wonderful family, my husband, Gene, also an internist at Kaiser and our 3 girls (one set of twins). We do everything together: cook travel, and attend as many cultural events and Cal football games as we can.

I chose this specialty because it involves the care of women throughout her lifecycle, from adolescence, through the childbearing years, to menopause and all the years in between. My role is to “strengthen the backbone” and provide you with information regarding your options to care.

Associate Program Director - Zarghoona Rahim, MD

Having grown up in Alameda, I am delighted now to be able to return to serve my local community. I graduated from the west end’s Encinal High School, attended Cal for my undergraduate studies, and after my medical training on the East Coast, I returned home for a 4-year residency at Kaiser hospitals in Oakland and Berkeley.

It was at Kaiser-Oakland that I was first exposed to the Kaiser Permanente model of dispensing health care. In serving one of the most diverse patient populations anywhere, Kaiser Permanente is committed to providing premium-quality health care as is evident by our comprehensive assortment of screening and preventative health care programs. In my view, Kaiser Permanente represents the best in health care provision that the private sector has to offer.

Following the completion of my residency at Kaiser-Oakland, I accepted the offer of a staff position as an obstetrician/gynecologist at our Kaiser-Oakland’s Alameda satellite clinic. My decision to stay with Kaiser Permanente has enabled me to fulfill my dedication to treating women’s health issues. From routine preventative care to the most complicated cases, nothing is beyond reach with the in-house support network that Kaiser Permanente comprises. I value tremendously the opportunity that Kaiser-Oakland affords me of being able to work with up-and-coming residents and medical students.

The patients I see come to me from all over the East Bay, from many different backgrounds. Having been born in Kabul, Afghanistan, I am sensitive to cultural concerns. I am a native speaker of Persian (Dari), and I have acquired other languages such as Pushtu and Hindi along the way to becoming an Alameda resident. Yet my yearning to treat women’s health issues is not limited by political or geographic boundaries. As part of my international health care experience, I have provided health care services in Turkey, Singapore and Indonesia.

Traveling, learning about different cultures and meeting new people bring me a great deal of joy. My patients’ health and well-being are very important to me. I try to treat each patient individually and with the special care she deserves. In my personal time, I am an avid runner and nature lover, and I enjoy hiking and cooking.

John Husokowski, MD - 2005 Winner, Northern California GME Teaching Award for Most Outstanding Faculty

I joined the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Kaiser Oakland in 1978 and it has been my “home” ever since. I began my practice in the general field of obstetrics and gynecology. As I began to see my patients year after year, I developed important relationships with them, some of which have spanned more than 25 years. These relationships have enriched my professional life and have provided me with a deep sense of personal satisfaction.

I consider myself fortunate to practice in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Kaiser in Oakland. I have a high regard for our nurse practitioners and staff physicians and am confident that my patients will receive a high quality of care when I am not available. It is also reassuring to know that consultation with specialists is immediately available to me by simply walking down the hall or by picking up the phone. Our hospital supports the education of 16 residents who are training to be future obstetricians and gynecologists. Their presence helps stimulate learning and raises the level of care for our patients and I enjoy participating in their education.