Dr. Karen James, M.D

Education and Certification

Medical School: University of Washington
Board Certification: Family Medicine

Additional Qualifications

Medical Director, Swedish Family Medicine Clinic
Associate Clinical Professor, University of Washington School of Medicine
Faculty, Swedish Family Medicine Residency
Chair, Swedish Family Medicine Gynecology Curriculum
Chief Resident, Swedish Family Medicine Residency

Clinical Interests/Special Procedures Performed

Preventive care
Sports medicine
Women's health

Get to Know Dr. Karen James

Watching M*A*S*H inspired Dr. James to go into medicine. She saw her future in the exploits of Hawkeye Pierce, the irascible but dedicated physician from that show.

Dr. James realized her dream in 1999, graduating from the University of Washington School of Medicine. She returned to join its clinical faculty in 2002, after completing her residency in Family Medicine at Swedish.

In 2004, she was named Medical Director of the Swedish Family Medicine First Hill Clinic. That same year she completed the University of Washington's Faculty Development Fellowship, to support and encourage new physicians to choose family medicine as their specialty.

Dr. James continues to teach and work with doctors-in-training, a role that demands she stay current on the latest techniques for diagnosing and treating hundreds of common conditions.

Though she loves teaching, the best part of Dr. James' day is working with her patients at Seattle Premier Health. "Now I have the time I need to really get to know my patients," she says.

"I can be of so much greater help when I understand everything that might be affecting their health."

Personal Side of Dr. Karen James

Karen James has somehow managed to find balance among her lives as a physician, professor, wife, mom and bicycle enthusiast.

A Washington native, she takes every opportunity to get outside, whether it's for hiking, backpacking or working in the garden. She's also a bit of a die-hard cyclist, racing at the Marymoor Park Velodrome in Redmond during the summer or entering cyclocross races in the winter.

Yet, the center of her life isn't her job, her teaching or her hobbies. It's her husband, David, and daughter, Ella.

As a family-medicine physician, Dr. James fully appreciates the value of a healthy family and she has made her own the highest priority.