Dr. Michelle Cajulis Part of Female Physician Heritage

LIVINGSTON, NJ – January 8, 2015 – Dr. Michelle Cajulis comes from a long and distinguished medical tradition. In an extraordinary and rare female bloodline, grandmother, mother and daughter are physicians, and Dr. Cajulis’ young daughter seems primed to follow suit. Dr. Cajulis, who is currently an internal medicine specialist at Summit Medical Group Livingston, praises the cultural custom of medical care that is part of her Philippine culture.

Her grandmother, Dr. Carmen Ora, was an endocrinologist and professor at the University of Santo Tomas in her native Philippines. Dr. Ora moved with her daughter to Philadelphia in the mid-1960s and continued to practice at the Medical College of Pennsylvania into her 70s.

Dr. Cajulis’ mother, Dr. Marivi Ora-Cajulis, completed her residency and fellowship at the Hahnemann School of Medicine. Today, at 71, she still practices Pulmonary Medicine at Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Browns Mills, NJ, where she has worked since before giving birth to her daughter. She was the first female pulmonologist in her group. “They had never had a female physician in the group, so they didn’t know what to do about maternity leave when she was pregnant with me,” relates Dr. Michelle Cajulis.

Dr. Cajulis feels that having a female bloodline in the medical profession gave her role models to look up to. Her mother and grandmother “showed me women can have both high-esteemed jobs and a nurturing family life.”

Her daughter Amelia, now six years old, began her interest in medicine at the tender age of four, when she asked her mother, “What do you do?” to which Dr. Cajulis answered that as a physician, “I make people feel better.” She understands that her grandma and great-grandma are physicians too. Amelia, who has had a Doc McStuffins doll since she was four, wants to become a doctor in order to work with her mother.

The message from the women in her life is reflected in Dr. Cajulis’ experience. Before joining Summit Medical Group, she was Associate Chief of Hospital Medicine, Hospice Medical Director, Associate Director of Integrated Palliative and Hospice Care, and Associate Attending Physician at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York City for the past 13 years. She has also taught medical courses and lectured on palliative and end-of-life care.

To make an appointment at Summit Medical Group Internal Medicine in Livingston, please call 973-994-2200.

ABOUT SUMMIT MEDICAL GROUP

Summit Medical Group (SMG) is the largest privately held multispecialty medical practice in New Jersey. SMG maintains a 42-acre healthcare campus in Berkeley Heights and more than 50 additional practice locations in central and northern New Jersey. As an East Coast premier multispecialty group, SMG has provided exceptional primary and specialty care since 1929. For more information, visit www.summitmedicalgroup.com.