Kristin Burstedt Leonard was born in Concord, California and raised in the sunny Bay Area and Oahu, Hawaii.  She majored in Biology at Saint Mary’s College in nearby Moraga, where she met the love-of-her-life, and now husband, Michael. She then attended medical school at Des Moines University where she discovered her passion for pediatrics, adult medicine, geriatrics and mental health. She decided to focus on family medicine as it emphasizes the care of the whole person. Natividad Medical Center’s mission of providing the highest quality care for the underserved drew Kristin to their Family Residency Program. Caring for the hard-working field workers at Natividad, has been an extremely humbling and enriching experience for her. While at Natividad, she led an after-school social-emotional health program for children at a local elementary school in an effort to prevent future effects of trauma, such as mental illness. When she is not working, she enjoys spending time with all the wonderful people she has been blessed to call family and friends: her husband, supportive parents (including her in-laws), three brothers, two sisters-in-law, extended family and friends from all walks of life. As an eternal optimist, Kristin enjoys looking for the joy in all of life’s moments and helping to spread that joy to others. Kristin is a fellow at Natividad Medical Center in Salinas, California.