Ho Joon Choi

Ho Joon Choi, MD is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Care at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. He serves as Co-Director of the Obstetric Anesthesia division, specializing in anesthesia for childbirth and cesarean sections. Dr. Choi is board certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology and maintains an active clinical practice at UC Irvine Medical Center, focusing on patient safety during obstetric procedures.

Dr. Choi's educational background includes a medical degree from Seoul National University, anesthesia residency training at the University of Iowa, and fellowship specialization in Obstetric Anesthesia at the University of California, Irvine. This comprehensive training prepared him for his current leadership role in academic anesthesiology.

His research program centers on improving safety in obstetric anesthesia, particularly through advanced monitoring techniques. Dr. Choi has extensively studied pulse oximetry as a respiratory monitor during epidural morphine analgesia and evaluated epidural sufentanyl combinations for labor pain management. His work addresses critical safety issues where both maternal and fetal wellbeing must be balanced, with special attention to high-risk scenarios involving cardiac conditions and unexpected obstetric complications.

Analysis of Dr. Choi's publication history reveals a consistent focus on patient safety monitoring in obstetric settings. From his early work in the 1980s on transcutaneous CO2 monitoring to recent textbook contributions, he has maintained a dedicated research trajectory examining respiratory function during epidural analgesia and management of complex obstetric cases. His publications demonstrate a progression from technical monitoring studies to broader clinical applications in modern obstetric anesthesia practice.

Dr. Choi has received significant recognition for his teaching excellence:

• Golden Bucket Award from Residents graduating Class 2015 (June 13, 2015)
• Faculty Exemplar Award from Residents graduating Class 2016 (June 18, 2016)

As an educator, he has developed extensive teaching resources including textbook chapters and departmental educational materials covering anesthetic pharmacology and obstetric anesthesia. His role as Co-Director of Obstetric Anesthesia involves supervising clinical training and maintaining high patient care standards. Dr. Choi leads a multidisciplinary team focused on optimizing pain management during labor while implementing advanced monitoring protocols to enhance patient safety, particularly for high-risk obstetric patients requiring specialized anesthesia care.