After attending Duke University and UCLA School of Medicine and completing her medical residency at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Dr. Pelinka returned home to become a staff physician at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, the same hospital where she was born. Dr. Pelinka has been practicing pediatrics for over a decade, while also learning about parenting first-hand from her own two children. Her medical passions include child development, behavioral issues, special needs children, international medicine and volunteerism, as her family and she have served for several years at The Painted Turtle Camp, a camp for kids with life-threatening illness. Dr. Pelinka views her medical practice as a true vocation and calling, as opposed to just a job.