Dr. Paula Heimberg grew up in New Bedford, a small factory town and fishing village in Massachusetts. She became fascinated with science in high school. As a teenager, Paula began working as a nursing assistant during school breaks, which she did even during medical school. In high school, she also worked evenings as a cook in a restaurant, and in college, the breakfast and lunch cook for over 100 students in a dormitory. A career in restaurants was a fallback if medical school didn’t work out.
Dr. Heimberg completed college, medical school, and a neonatology fellowship in Chicago. She completed a general pediatrics residency at St. Louis University Medical School the following two years. After training, she joined as a Commissioned Officer in the National Health Services Corps and is a veteran. For three years, she served in inner-city Boston and the rural south. She received a Bronze Distinguished Service Award for outstanding service in setting up systems to improve health outcomes. Her first child, Katy, was born during that time. After her stint in the public health service, Paula moved with her husband to complete her third year of pediatric training at Duke Medical Center in North Carolina.
In 1982, Dr. Heimberg joined a pediatric practice in Beverly, Massachusetts. Her son, Henry, was born in the first year of this position. In addition to providing care for her patients, she taught residents, medical students, nursing students, and advanced practitioner students. Dr. Heimberg had a teaching faculty appointment at Harvard Medical School for decades.
In 2016, after 34 years, Dr. Heimberg left her successful practice to join her family, who had relocated to Portland. In the winter and spring of 2021, Dr. Heimberg worked as a physician in the Covid immunization project at the convention center. Dr. Heimberg has volunteered to teach residents and young physicians overseas in Bhutan from 2019-2023. She currently teaches medical students at OHSU part-time.
Dr. Heimberg is an avid biker and hiker who enjoys yoga (most days), bridge, swing dancing, and cooking. She has a daughter, who is also a medical provider, a son-in-law, and a granddaughter in Oregon.