Pediatric Neurology of Orange County Staff
About Doctor Garfinkle
Doctor Rebecca Garfinkle is board certified in Neurology with a Special Competency in Child and Adolescent Neurology. She is excited to join the Orange County Community, along with her husband Mark, and their children Abram and Nora. Dr. Garfinkle loves spending time with her family, great food, and enjoys being active in the outdoors.
Dr. Garfinkle was raised in San Diego and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physiological Sciences at University of California, Los Angeles. She thought she would be in California her entire life, however after being accepted to medical school, Dr. Garfinkle was awarded a competitive Scholarship through the United States Army’s Health Professionals Scholarship Program (HPSP) and found herself instead headed out for unexpected adventures.
She attended medical school at Kansas City University of Medical and Biological Sciences, where she earned her Doctor of Osteopathy Degree.
After medical school, she moved to paradise to complete her 3-year pediatric residency at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. She did not learn to surf as expertly as she’d hoped, but had fun trying. Dr. Garfinkle did run 2 marathons in Hawaii, training through “Team in Training,” raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This is also where she met her future husband, Mark.
Upon completing residency, Dr. Garfinkle moved from eternal sunshine to Fairbanks, Alaska where she served as the chief of Pediatrics of a busy general pediatric clinic. She enjoyed this unique part of the country and even learned to “skate ski” in her little time off. During this time, Dr. Garfinkle married her husband Mark while on a visit home to the sun in San Diego.
From Alaska, Dr. Garfinkle was selected for Child and Adolescent Neurology Fellowship training at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and she and Mark were off to their next temporary home in Washington, D.C. Their son Abram was born during this time, and since then Dr. Garfinkle’s strongest commitment has been to remain both a present mother and a dedicated, caring pediatrician.
Dr. Garfinkle was then selected to serve at the San Antonio Military Medical Center as a staff Child and Adolescent Neurologist where her primary job was to provide excellent and caring treatment in the field of Pediatric and Adolescent Neurology to military members’ children, while also mentoring and serving as a member of the teaching staff for pediatric and neurology residents. During her time in San Antonio, Dr. Garfinkle was selected for deployment to Iraq to serve as the in-theatre Neurology consultant where she also provided primary care to active duty soldiers and served as the traumatic brain injury (TBI) theatre expert. In the year after she returned home to San Antonio, her beautiful daughter Nora was born.
Dr. Garfinkle has continued to gain expertise and experience in all areas of neurology. She has extensive understanding of traumatic brain injuries/concussion, headache and migraine diagnosis and treatment (in which she has a special interest), epilepsy, cerebral palsy/spasticity management, movement and muscle disorders, ADHD and Autism among others. Dr. Garfinkle is honored to create her own practice to serve the community of Orange County, and is excited after many years of adventure to be close to her San Diego family.
For more information, please see Dr. Garfinkle’s Curriculum Vitae (pdf)
About Jennifer
Jennifer lives in Orange County with her children Brianna and Adrian. She enjoys spending time with her family, outdoor activities, traveling, reading, sports, and music.
Jennifer was raised in southern Orange County and graduated from Saddleback College where she earned her degree in Nursing. She has been working in the medical field for over 15 years. She enjoys helping others and especially loves working with children.
