Meet Dr. Chris Linares, MD | by Solve Health Media

Posted on Tue, May 4, 2021

Family Physician, Co-Owner of Lone Tree Family Practice

Like many who grew up to become physicians, Dr. Chris Linares knew at age five that she wanted to become a doctor someday. 

Growing up in Bainbridge, Ohio, a rural suburb of Cleveland, and surrounded by a large extended family, Dr. Linares spent her childhood days swimming, riding horses and playing with her cousins. And while she knew she would one day become a doctor, her stepmother was a daily role model who inspired her. 

We recently sat down with Dr. Linares at her home in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, to learn more about this driven and gifted physician. 

Q: Who were some of the adults who inspired you as a child?

Dr. Linares: I had a biology teacher who really believed in me. I shared with him that I wanted to be a doctor and he’s like, of course, absolutely. So, when you have an adult like that who absolutely believes 100 percent that you can do this thing that nobody in your family has done, well, it was life-changing for me. 

Another adult who affected me a lot was my stepmom. My stepmom was a very strong woman. She worked her whole life. She worked very hard, but she was always composed and pulled together. And, she just kind of showed me what a working woman could look like taking care of her kids and being very professional at the same time.

Q: You spent time before med school living in New York City where you were a social worker at low-income apartment building. What was that like?

Dr. Linares: It was an old Times Square hotel that was being renovated to house low-income people. There were very ill people living there, squatting there and there was a lot of mental illness, some addiction and they were living in very poor circumstances. It was a perspective that I had never seen growing up in a small town in Ohio.

To see the depth of need in that place consolidated my desire to help people and my drive to become a doctor.

Q: You wear many different hats in the medical field. Can you walk us through those?

Dr. Linares: Sure, I’m family physician and co-owner of Lone Tree Family Practice. At Sky Ridge Medical Center I am chair of family medicine and I’ve been there for 17 ½ years. I’m also involved with the Colorado Medical Society and president of my county chapter, as well. I think it’s important to be involved in other parts of medicine, other than patient care, because it gives me a good perspective as to what’s going on in the hospital and a political perspective as to what’s going on in our state around healthcare.

I just think it’s very important to keep apprised of what’s going on in the bigger world of medicine.

Fast Facts/By the numbers:

• What is the age of the oldest patient you treat? 92
• What is the age of the youngest patient you treat? A few months old
• First thing you want to do post COVID: Listen to music outside at a concert
• What’s your favorite type of music? Rock and roll, blues, jazz. Mostly rock and roll. 
• Last book read: Daring Greatly by Brené Brown
• What are your favorite movies of all time? Forest Gump, Ballroom Dancing
• Bucket list travel destinations? Glacier National Park, Greece, Italy, Viet Nam, Cambodia
• If you could do anything else for a living, what would it be? I honestly don’t know because I’m doing what I always wanted to do and have never thought about doing anything else. I guess I’m lucky that way. 
• Who/what is your spirit animal? Wild mustang
• If you could have lunch with any person living or dead, who would it be? Michelle Obama

Tags: Family Medicine, Sky Ridge Medical Center