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Dr. Karla Iacampo brings warm and genuine care to her big city practice.
Some people struggle with making their career choice. Not Dr. Karla Iacampo. She knew she wanted to be a doctor since she was in the fourth grade.
“From the time I was a little girl, I felt strongly that doctors should treat people the way they’d like to be treated – with real warmth and respect,” she says. “I never wanted to be somebody who doesn’t know their patients.”
When Dr. Iacampo started medical school (Loma Linda University School of Medicine), she was convinced she was going to be a pediatrician. That is, until her third year when she took her ob/gyn rotation.
“Right away,” Dr. Iacampo laughs, “I was bitten by the delivery bug. I love being part of the most joyful part of people’s lives. I get such great feelings from doing what I do.”
Dr. Iacampo’s three-person practice cares for women ranging from little girls, to teens, to women of fertility age, right through menopause. And clearly, her patients feel great about the uniquely warm and caring environment Dr. Iacampo creates. There are several families in which Dr. Iacampo takes care of multiple generations: the grandmother, the mom, and the daughter.
“At CAP, every member has to be approved by a committee composed of doctors. In 2010, I started helping reviewing new applicants. The experience was eye-opening, engaging, and stimulating. I learned so much that I started working on more committees. I think it makes you a better doctor.”
“I just love that I can be in Los Angeles, and yet still run this practice as if it’s a small town. I know everybody and they know me.” Dr. Iacampo’s practice is close-knit and her team has been together for a long time. “We all cover for each other when we need to,” says Dr. Iacampo, “but when the time comes for a baby to be delivered, we each like to deliver our own patients –- even if we’re not on call. It’s such a special moment that we’d hate to miss it.”
That same dedication to caring extends to Saint John’s Health Center, with which Dr. Iacampo and her colleagues are associated. “I take shifts as a Laborist in Labor and Delivery to take care of any patients who come in without an obstetrician. It’s a stressful environment and I try to provide a level of reassurance.”
Dr. Iacampo has been with CAP since the very first day of her practice, based on the recommendation of several friends who were doctors. But recently her relationship has deepened. “At CAP, every member has to be approved by a committee composed of doctors. In 2010, I started helping reviewing new applicants. The experience was eye-opening, engaging, and stimulating. I learned so much that I started working on more committees. I think it makes you a better doctor.”
It is true. While working on one of those committees, Dr. Iacampo learned about the “massive transfusion protocol” developed by military doctors during the Iraqi war. It helps save the lives of people who might otherwise bleed to death. Not long after, she was assisting with her partner’s patient who had an abnormal placental growth and was hemorrhaging. “We triggered the protocol and instantly there were more anesthesiologists, doctors, whole teams focused on saving her. The woman would not have lived if we did not have this protocol in place. But she left the hospital with a beautiful healthy baby just five days later, completely normal.”
When she is not at the office, Dr. Iacampo is a devoted mom to her three daughters aged 25, 21, and 18. “We love to travel – when my daughters have studied abroad we have gone everywhere from to Chichen Itza, to Machu Picchu, and even Petra in Jordan. I can hardly wait to learn where my youngest daughter will go to study,” Dr. Iacampo says happily, “so we can figure out our next adventure.”
But until that next exotic getaway, Dr. Iacampo is thrilled to keep on working. “Would I ever give up delivery? Not now – it’s so exciting and makes me so happy. That’s the birthday party!”
DR. KARLA IACAMPO AT-A-GLANCE
Medical Specialty: OB GYN
Practice Location: Santa Monica, CA
Years in Practice: 24
CAP Member Since: 1992