Dr. Hsieh was born in Taipei, Taiwan and raised in Southern California beginning at a very young age. She spent most of her childhood in the suburbs of Long Beach. After graduating from Lakewood High School, she attended the University of California at Irvine. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, she went on to complete her postgraduate studies in medicine at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona.

She graduated and earned her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree in 1995. Not venturing too far, she then completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena.  She then decided to further her postgraduate training in the subspecialty of Endocrinology.

Dr. Hsieh has always had an interest in diabetes since her undergraduate years where she spent 3 years focusing on islet cell transplantation research. After completing 2 years of fellowship training in Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, she returns to her hometown, Long Beach to begin her practice of medicine.

Dr. Hsieh is board certified in internal medicine, endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism, and a fellow of the American College of Endocrinology. Dr. Hsieh thrives on direct patient care and spending time educating her patients about their disease process. She is also actively involved in clinical research as a principal investigator.

Dr. Hsieh is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Endocrinology at Western University of Health Sciences and is a preceptor for medical students. She is also the Medical Director of the Adult Diabetes Program at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center.

Ellie is a board certified Physician Assistant and an affiliated member of both the California Academy of Physician Assistants (CAPA) and the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA). She received her Masters in Physician Assistant Studies from Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California. Before joining West Coast Endocrine, Ellie had experience in both endocrinology and sleep medicine. She is a devoted and compassionate professional who prides herself in providing the time and attention needed for each individual patient. Education is an area in which she works to instill in her patients, since she instructs each patient about diabetes, its complications, and proper diet. "When someone is newly diagnosed with diabetes, he/she is experiencing an array of emotions and must have various questions running through his/her head. I am there to answer their questions and give them hope that he/she can live a long and healthy life with proper lifestyle modifications and treatment.”

Ellie is also a certified insulin pump trainer, and can train patients on the continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS). In fact, she was one of the first people to try the CGMS system when it was FDA approved. Her patience and understanding makes the patient comfortable with inserting an infusion or sensor site for the first time.

Michele Kelly has experience of counseling hundreds of patients who have diabetes, heart disease, obesity and other co-morbid conditions.  She has found that one of the most important things a patient benefits from is factual, easy to understand information and personalized help on how to implement that data into their lives. Individuals with diabetes especially need to be educated about their disease process and how a proper diet that includes foods they actually like will help them to slowly gain back the control they thought they had lost. Doctors simply do not have the time to go over food records, blood glucose records, exercise records, explain the disease process, medication and in addition develop a personalized diet.  Weight loss is equally as complex involving psychological, biological, social and behavioral aspects of a person’s life. Sadly, because there is often no available referral source to send their patient, most are simply given a “good” and “bad” food list, and an admonition to lose weight. 

Ms. Kelly's educational background includes a BS and MS in Nutrition Science. During her master’s program at CSULB, she completed their AP4 internship program and became a Registered Dietitian. Fitness and nutrition have always been a passion of hers; during her undergraduate years she worked as a certified personal trainer. Immediately following her masters program in 1996 she was employed by Centinela Hospital where she attained her outpatient and clinical experience and eventually played an integral role in the creation of their ADA recognized diabetes program and their NIH modeled weight loss program.

Ms. Kelly finds it extremely rewarding to help people make permanent behavior changes, improve their health and in the process clear up some of their many misconceptions about nutrition.

Michelle Tungate

Office Manager and Clinical Laboratory Manager