Eileen M. McGrath, MD

The fictional namesake of the 1970s TV show, Marcus Welby, MD, made a big impression on Dr. Eileen McGrath. The genial doctor who made house calls and an overarching love of people are what motivated her to go into medicine.

Dr. McGrath spent time in college with a family doctor, shadowing him as he tended to patients. She watched as he took care of people in jail, and delivered babies in Ithaca, NY. “He was a true family doctor,” she says. That inspired her choice of family medicine as her specialty. Dr. McGrath did her residency at UCLA and decided to stay in Santa Monica.

Dr. McGrath’s Irish heritage is important to her. Her parents came from Ireland and she visits the Emerald Island every couple of years, where she has 68 first cousins.

She loves the weather, the ocean, the mountains and exercising outdoors. Her activities of choice are hiking, running and biking along beach trails. In her time off, she also enjoys travel. Her favorite places so far include Brazil, Argentina, Peru, South Africa and Japan. Her bucket list destination? The 7th continent: Antarctica.

Dr. McGrath's husband, Mark Needham MD, also practices family medicine. Their daughter is in pre-med, majoring in global health and Spanish. They also have two sons, one who resides in New York and is a professional dancer and choreographer, and another who is attending the UCLA Herb Alpert music school as a percussionist.