For Malibu Doctor, Providing Care Runs in the Family

The young girl who used to accompany her father, Dr. Scott Bateman, to his family medicine practice on Civic Center Drive in Malibu, is now a doctor herself.

Ashley Bateman works in Westlake Village and she is a staff staff physician affiliated with Ronald Regan UCLA Medical Center.

"She is just starting off her practice. A day doesn't go by where I don't get a call. We share our days experience and it has been a lot of fun," said Scott Bateman, a UCLA physician who has been practicing in family medicine in Malibu for the past 34 years. Bateman is a former chief of staff at UCLA Santa Monica, and he remains a staff physician with the hospital.

Ashley Bateman called her father "a great mentor."

"I always wanted to be in the medical field," Ashley Bateman said, pointing to the days she spent growing up in her father's Malibu office.

Both Batemans specialize in family medicine.

"I tried to discourage her from going into family medicine," the elder Bateman said, adding that other practices can afford a more comfortable lifestyle with a little less work.

In the early days of practice, Scott Bateman said he initially had a hard time establishing his practice.

"Believe it or not, Malibu is very much a rural area. We don't have a specialist out here. Most everybody has to go into town. So when I came out here it was a challenge to be able to offer our patients what they need," he said.

A rock slide in the 1980s shut down Pacific Coast Highway for weeks, which actually helped to raise his profile with locals.

"It closed off the community substantially so that is was almost impossible to get in and out," Bateman recalls.

Mostly, Ashley Bateman said her father has a personal touch with patients that she hopes to emulate.

"He is amazing with patients," she said.

Both have not ruled out practicing together, but for now Ashley Bateman said she is trying to establish herself and gain experience.

"It's not something that we don't plan to do," she said.