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Dana Arlien enjoys climbing at High Altitude Fitness.
“I was born in Sacramento, Calif. but only lived there a couple of years before my family moved to Yuba City, Calif.,” said Dana Arlien. This city in Northern California was home for her family for only a few years as well. By the time she was in second grade Arlien and her family had moved to Browns Valley where they stayed through her fifth grade year in school.
“I started riding horses when I was eight years old,” Arlien said.
Today, this is still a passion and hobby.
When Arlien was in the sixth grade her family moved to Nevada. Now that she was living in the Washoe Valley, it was easy for her to ride her horse throughout both middle school and high school on trails in the Washoe Valley. But she also had another goal.
“I wanted to be a doctor since 14 so was focused on that. That was my goal to get accepted into medical school,” Arlien said.
Arlien graduated from Galena High School.
College and the years of medical school
After high school it was off to the University of California, Davis where Arlien started many years of preparation for her medical degree. After four years at UC Davis she received a bachelor of science in neurobiology, physiology and behavior.
Throughout college Arlien still found time to ride her horse. In fact, her mother bought her a foul when she was in college and Arlien was able to keep it throughout medical school.
“In college I would ride whenever I could and found a barn nearby for my horse,” Arlien said.
While in college, Arlien spent a summer doing research for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida as well as a summer in London studying literature and history.
Once Arlien was attending the University of Nevada School of Medicine for medical school, her horse stayed in the Reno area at Red Rock.
While she was in the third year of medical school doing a rotation in internal medicine she met her husband, Jon.
“We started dating and we knew right way that we would get married,” said Arlien. “He lived at Cave Rock so on our first date we went to Emerald Bay and hiked down and just hung out. Then we hiked up to Cave Rock in the evening and saw the sunset. Six months later we were engaged.”
Enjoying Tahoe’s lifestyle
“The courtship included lots of hiking and we were married one year to the day of our first date,” said Arlien. “We were married near Meyers (Calif.) and rented the catamaran Woodwind II for the wedding reception. We sailed to Emerald Bay and to Cave Rock.”
Since Arlien was still in medical school she needed to complete her schooling.
“After we were married we moved to Reno for me to finish medical school,” Arlien said.
Arlien graduated from medical school in 2003 and began her psychiatry residency in Reno at the University of Nevada’s School of Medicine.
“Jon is a climber, skier and has always been a hiker and outdoors person,” Arlien said. “We decided we wanted to move to the lake and looked around all over to find a place.”
But first Arlien decided to participate in the Lake Tahoe Marathon doing the Half Marathon.
“It was so amazing along Emerald Bay to Camp Richardson,” Arlien said. “It was beautiful and peaceful. A few weeks later we saw a listing for a house in Incline Village that we liked. We bought it within a day.”
Arlien and her husband moved into their new home in Incline Village during a blizzard in December of 2004. She said however because she was still in residency her husband did most of the work taking care of the move.
“The first winter’s commute was hard but it was so worth it,” Arlien said. “This is such a wonderful place.”
After Arlien completed her adult psychiatry residency in 2006, she completed a child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship from 2006 to 2008 at the University of Nevada School of Medicine.
Arlien completed her medical schooling in June 2008.
Enjoying the outdoors
Arlien learned about her passion for riding horses as a child but the more time she spent in the great outdoors in the Tahoe area, the more she learned about other activities. It also helped that her husband was an avid outdoorsman and enjoyed extreme sports. Soon she had expanded her love of the outdoors to include more of the extreme adventures.
In 2007 Arlien participated in Barb’s Race, a half Ironman triathlon in Sonoma, Calif.
“I trained for four months. I was still in residency so I did a lot of training at the lake,” said Arlien. “I swam at Incline Beach, would ride bike and run all around Incline. I trained on Saturday and Sunday every week.”
After Arlien did the half Ironman, her next adventure was to climb the highest summit in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney. Whitney is located in the Sequoia National Park in California.
“I worked all day and then drove to Mount Whitney and began the climb under a full moon,” she said. Arlien finished the climb in one day.
In 2008 Arlien finished the 165 miles of hiking on the Tahoe Rim Trail. She did this in sections in order to fit into her schedule. But she also completed another long time goal in 2008 as well. She reached the summit of Half Dome at Yosemite.
What Else will Arlien do?
In July Arlien started her job as a child psychologist at Willow Springs Center in Reno in July. She admitted that the job is very challenging and requires that she works from Sunday through Wednesday.
Arlien has already been selected as the vice chief of staff at the West Hills Hospital. She was elected to this position by her peers.
“I didn’t want to add extra responsibilities to my load but it is such an honor and compliment to be asked.” Arlien said.
During her regular work week, Arlien finishes her work in Reno and heads to Truckee, Calif. Her horse is located at the Tahoe Meadows Equestrian center where Arlien spends time riding before returning home to Incline.
“My horse is very picky and expects good riding at all times. It is therapeutic for me to go to the barn,” she said.
Arlien is interested in dressage which is training that maximizes the horse’s potential as a riding horse. Competitions for dressage are held at all levels from amateur to the Olympics. In April Arlien is going to attend the Dressage World Cup in Las Vegas as a spectator.
“I like when I go through something challenging, it makes real life easier. I don’t really like heights but climb because it is scary,” Arlien said.
Recently she started ice climbing. This is just her first year ice climbing.
“I like to be goal orientated and enjoy the journey towards that destination,” Arlien said. “It is satisfying for me, getting to the top, overcoming fears. I like that.”
And Arlien still has other adventures on her list of things to do.
“I really want to do the Grand Canyon rim to rim, I want to do the Lake Tahoe Marathon, some horse shows, through hike the John Muir Trail,”Arlien said. “And maybe another triathlon and kayak around Lake Tahoe.”
With all of the adventure goals, it is sometimes difficult for Arlien to keep a balance between career and athletic achievements.
“I love it here. There is something magic about being able to live here. I like how outdoor based and family oriented the village is,” she said. “I love the amenities available for skiing, the recreation center and I love climbing at High Altitude.”
But Arlien also knows the importance of her career choice as well.
“The most extreme pain you can feel is emotional. I enjoy talking to people and find kids therapeutic,” she said. “There are more tools in the tool box than medicine.”
“I started riding horses when I was eight years old,” Arlien said.
Today, this is still a passion and hobby.
When Arlien was in the sixth grade her family moved to Nevada. Now that she was living in the Washoe Valley, it was easy for her to ride her horse throughout both middle school and high school on trails in the Washoe Valley. But she also had another goal.
“I wanted to be a doctor since 14 so was focused on that. That was my goal to get accepted into medical school,” Arlien said.
Arlien graduated from Galena High School.
College and the years of medical school
After high school it was off to the University of California, Davis where Arlien started many years of preparation for her medical degree. After four years at UC Davis she received a bachelor of science in neurobiology, physiology and behavior.
Throughout college Arlien still found time to ride her horse. In fact, her mother bought her a foul when she was in college and Arlien was able to keep it throughout medical school.
“In college I would ride whenever I could and found a barn nearby for my horse,” Arlien said.
While in college, Arlien spent a summer doing research for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida as well as a summer in London studying literature and history.
Once Arlien was attending the University of Nevada School of Medicine for medical school, her horse stayed in the Reno area at Red Rock.
While she was in the third year of medical school doing a rotation in internal medicine she met her husband, Jon.
“We started dating and we knew right way that we would get married,” said Arlien. “He lived at Cave Rock so on our first date we went to Emerald Bay and hiked down and just hung out. Then we hiked up to Cave Rock in the evening and saw the sunset. Six months later we were engaged.”
Enjoying Tahoe’s lifestyle
“The courtship included lots of hiking and we were married one year to the day of our first date,” said Arlien. “We were married near Meyers (Calif.) and rented the catamaran Woodwind II for the wedding reception. We sailed to Emerald Bay and to Cave Rock.”
Since Arlien was still in medical school she needed to complete her schooling.
“After we were married we moved to Reno for me to finish medical school,” Arlien said.
Arlien graduated from medical school in 2003 and began her psychiatry residency in Reno at the University of Nevada’s School of Medicine.
“Jon is a climber, skier and has always been a hiker and outdoors person,” Arlien said. “We decided we wanted to move to the lake and looked around all over to find a place.”
But first Arlien decided to participate in the Lake Tahoe Marathon doing the Half Marathon.
“It was so amazing along Emerald Bay to Camp Richardson,” Arlien said. “It was beautiful and peaceful. A few weeks later we saw a listing for a house in Incline Village that we liked. We bought it within a day.”
Arlien and her husband moved into their new home in Incline Village during a blizzard in December of 2004. She said however because she was still in residency her husband did most of the work taking care of the move.
“The first winter’s commute was hard but it was so worth it,” Arlien said. “This is such a wonderful place.”
After Arlien completed her adult psychiatry residency in 2006, she completed a child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship from 2006 to 2008 at the University of Nevada School of Medicine.
Arlien completed her medical schooling in June 2008.
Enjoying the outdoors
Arlien learned about her passion for riding horses as a child but the more time she spent in the great outdoors in the Tahoe area, the more she learned about other activities. It also helped that her husband was an avid outdoorsman and enjoyed extreme sports. Soon she had expanded her love of the outdoors to include more of the extreme adventures.
In 2007 Arlien participated in Barb’s Race, a half Ironman triathlon in Sonoma, Calif.
“I trained for four months. I was still in residency so I did a lot of training at the lake,” said Arlien. “I swam at Incline Beach, would ride bike and run all around Incline. I trained on Saturday and Sunday every week.”
After Arlien did the half Ironman, her next adventure was to climb the highest summit in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney. Whitney is located in the Sequoia National Park in California.
“I worked all day and then drove to Mount Whitney and began the climb under a full moon,” she said. Arlien finished the climb in one day.
In 2008 Arlien finished the 165 miles of hiking on the Tahoe Rim Trail. She did this in sections in order to fit into her schedule. But she also completed another long time goal in 2008 as well. She reached the summit of Half Dome at Yosemite.
What Else will Arlien do?
In July Arlien started her job as a child psychologist at Willow Springs Center in Reno in July. She admitted that the job is very challenging and requires that she works from Sunday through Wednesday.
Arlien has already been selected as the vice chief of staff at the West Hills Hospital. She was elected to this position by her peers.
“I didn’t want to add extra responsibilities to my load but it is such an honor and compliment to be asked.” Arlien said.
During her regular work week, Arlien finishes her work in Reno and heads to Truckee, Calif. Her horse is located at the Tahoe Meadows Equestrian center where Arlien spends time riding before returning home to Incline.
“My horse is very picky and expects good riding at all times. It is therapeutic for me to go to the barn,” she said.
Arlien is interested in dressage which is training that maximizes the horse’s potential as a riding horse. Competitions for dressage are held at all levels from amateur to the Olympics. In April Arlien is going to attend the Dressage World Cup in Las Vegas as a spectator.
“I like when I go through something challenging, it makes real life easier. I don’t really like heights but climb because it is scary,” Arlien said.
Recently she started ice climbing. This is just her first year ice climbing.
“I like to be goal orientated and enjoy the journey towards that destination,” Arlien said. “It is satisfying for me, getting to the top, overcoming fears. I like that.”
And Arlien still has other adventures on her list of things to do.
“I really want to do the Grand Canyon rim to rim, I want to do the Lake Tahoe Marathon, some horse shows, through hike the John Muir Trail,”Arlien said. “And maybe another triathlon and kayak around Lake Tahoe.”
With all of the adventure goals, it is sometimes difficult for Arlien to keep a balance between career and athletic achievements.
“I love it here. There is something magic about being able to live here. I like how outdoor based and family oriented the village is,” she said. “I love the amenities available for skiing, the recreation center and I love climbing at High Altitude.”
But Arlien also knows the importance of her career choice as well.
“The most extreme pain you can feel is emotional. I enjoy talking to people and find kids therapeutic,” she said. “There are more tools in the tool box than medicine.”
