David Ruiz, MD
Dr. Ruiz was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona. After graduating from High School, he began his journey to the beautiful Pacific Northwest. After receiving his undergraduate degree from Stanford University, he attended medical school at the University of Washington School of Medicine and completed his Family Medicine residency in the U of W system, based in Spokane, Washington.
He brings over four decades of post-residency clinical and academic experience to our practice. Following almost fifteen years of private practice in Vancouver, Washington, David became the founding director of a U of W Family Medicine residency sponsored by PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, where he spent thirty years training and mentoring residents as well as a variety of other clinical learners including medical students, pharmacy residents, behavioral health interns, and medical assistants.
He has held Family Medicine clinical professorships at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine at Washington State University, and Oregon Health and Sciences University.
After a brief attempt at retirement, he decided to return to his roots and first love: directly caring for patients, making a difference in their lives, building therapeutic relationships, and facilitating the healing process. Core to his philosophy is creating space for patients to feel seen and heard, to acknowledge their opinions, to respect their beliefs, and to preserve their dignity, while providing treatment and counsel on a wide range of primary care issues, all in the holistic Family Medicine tradition. With every patient interaction, he asks himself the key question that makes his approach to medical care deeply personal: “Would this be good enough for my Mom?”
Dr. Ruiz cherishes his time away from Medicine, spending it with Midge, his wife of fifty years. He also embraces being present for family, perpetually expanding and fine-tuning the roles of father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. A former professional musician, trumpet and flugelhorn player, he continues to enjoy playing with friends in a small-group jazz ensemble. It feeds the soul.