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ERNIE MEDINA, JR., DrPH - Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Medina is a preventive care specialist who has spent the last 12 years working at Beaver Medical Group helping patients of all ages overcome lifestyle-related diseases such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. He revamped their Quit Smoking program and created their Stress Management Program. In 1999, he helped supervise the creation of their Kid Fit program. In light of the growing pediatric obesity epidemic, Dr. Medina is collaborating with California State University of San Bernardino to conduct research on the effectiveness and viability of "exertainment" as a tool in the fight of this epidemic. He recently incorporated exertainment into Beaver Medical Group's Kid Fit class. Dr. Medina is also the originator and co-founder of XRtainment Zone LLC, a first-of-a-kind center combining the latest in exertainment equipment and professional programming for total wellness in the family. Because of Dr. Medina's interest in kids, he is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to not only get kids to exercise, but to want to keep exercising. In 1998, when he saw his first demonstration of the Trazer computer game where a young girl was jumping and dancing in order to play a video game-the seed was planted for what is now the XRtainment Zone. Since that time, Dr. Medina has been collecting, networking, and researching games and hardware for exertainment. This has led to the belief that exertainment provides a unique intervention that overcomes many of the obstacles faced with promoting physical activity to kids.
In 1989, after graduating with his Bachelor of Science degree from Andrew University, located in Berrien Springs, Michigan, Dr. Medina moved west to Loma Linda University School of Public Health where he earned both his Master's of Public Health (Health Promotion emphasis) and Doctorate in Public Health (emphasis in preventive care) in 1993. While working on his dissertation during the last year of his doctorate, he completed internships at Desert Hot Springs Heart Institute, Kaiser Permanente's Preventive Medicine Dept., Cooper Aerobic Center, and Beaver Medical Group. This last internship led to his present position at the medical group.
Dr. Medina is a certified Health and Fitness Instructor by the American College of Sports Medicine. He is also the former Executive Director of the American Preventive Care Association. Besides working at Beaver Medical Group, Dr. Medina is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Health Promotion at Loma Linda University's School of Public Health where he guest lectures, supervises doctoral interns at Beaver Medical Group, and serves on doctoral students' dissertation committees. In his personal time, most of Dr. Medina's extracurricular activities involve kids. He is a co-director of the Adventurer Club (co-ed youth ages 4-9), a leader in the children division of his church, and for the past few years, he has organized a kid's triathlon the last three years in which hundreds of kids have participated. Dr. Medina is married to Dr. Keri Medina, an associate professor at Loma Linda School of Nursing. They have a daughter, Summer, who is actively involved on the Redlands Swim Team, ballet, and competing in kid's triathlons. |
