Dr. David Kurtmen, a family practice doctor with Montage Medical Group, grew up sailing and fishing on Monterey Bay. He was born in Santa Cruz, moved to Marina when he was 12 years old, and later moved to the Monterey Peninsula where he attended Robert Luis Stevenson school.
After going to school to become a doctor, Kurtmen came back to Monterey to care for the communities where he was raised, and he is joined by three more Montage Medical Group family practice doctors who he met along the way: his wife, Dr. Brooke Todd, and Drs. Stephen Owens and Marja-Liisa Magnuson, who married as the result of a residency romance.
We’re living here with purpose, because Monterey County communities are particularly affected by a lack of access to care. Contributing to that solution is meaningful to us.
—Marja-Liisa Magnuson, Family Practice, Montage Medical Group
Kurtmen and Todd fell in love during medical school and were lucky to be placed in the same residency. That is where they met Owens and Magnuson, with whom they formed a tight bond under the pressure of studying medicine.
Owens was a year ahead of the other three and met Magnuson when he was her senior resident for their inpatient night service. Their love sprouted from a shared passion for the outdoors.
The four aspiring doctors had weekly pizza nights and study sessions, which helped maintain their mental health on the stressful path to becoming doctors. After residency, Kurtmen and Todd moved to Monterey because they wanted to care for the communities where Kurtmen grew up, and Owens and Magnuson quickly followed suit.
“David and Brooke had glowing reviews of Montage Health,” Owens says. “We met with Montage Medical Group leadership, and after one visit we knew this was the place for us.”
The doctors still see each other often. “We have Wednesday night dinners and get together on weekends,” Todd says. “Our healthy social lives ultimately make us better professionals.”
“We’re living here with purpose,” Magnuson says, “because Monterey County communities are particularly affected by a lack of access to care. Contributing to that solution is meaningful to us.” Magnuson, an avid runner with fellowship training in sports medicine, says she is also excited to incorporate more sports medicine into her daily practice.
As a local, Kurtmen had his finger on the pulse of Monterey County communities since he was a child. Now, he has returned to his roots to provide personalized care to Monterey County patients. “I had my fifth birthday at Monterey Bay Aquarium,” Kurtmen says, “and now I do dive physicals for their divers through Montage Medical Group’s partnership with them.”
Kurtmen and Todd just celebrated the birth of their second child, delivered at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula’s Family Birth Center. “Settling into the area, growing our family, and establishing our practices are a lot to do at once,” Kurtmen says. “Having that support network with Marja and Steve, who can relate to what we’re going through, is a big help.”
“Collaboration with David, Brooke, Stephen, and myself enhances the care we provide,” Magnuson says, “because we stay connected and come to each other with tough cases, tapping into each other’s knowledge.” And ultimately, patients benefit from that connection.
