Position/Program: Medical Director

Pronouns: He/Him

Pets: Gracie (Rhodesian Ridgeback)

3 favorite things: My family, Coffee, A good book

Something I like to do outside of work: Travelling and spending time in the outdoors, especially with family.

Something interesting about me: I am first-generation Slovenian. My parents fled the country (then part of Yugoslavia) after WWII. They met in a refugee camp in Austria before immigrating to Canada in 1955. I visited there first when I was in high school and have been back many times since. I study the language, have 3 generations of family there and recently obtained citizenship. Slovenia has a progressive government, is an EU member and is consistently ranked among the greenest countries in the world.

Why I do what I do: I chose a career in medicine and psychiatry for two reasons: Serving and connecting meaningfully with others; and the intellectual challenges and lifelong learning.

A little more about Dr. Strgar:

After earning bachelor's degrees in psychology and chemistry I graduated from medical school in 1990, all at the University of Minnesota. I then completed a 4-year medical internship/psychiatry residency at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle in 1994. My first professional position was at a community mental health program in Ellensburg, Washington. Three years later I moved to Eugene where I have lived and worked ever since.

Over more than 25 years in Eugene I have gained extensive experience treating children, adolescents and adults in office-based and hospital settings, and at the Jasper Mountain Center, a long term residential psychiatric program for children.

I have learned that medical psychiatry has limits, that medications may be effective in mitigating symptoms and improving function, but when used indiscriminately and in isolation from psychosocial and lifestyle interventions may do more harm than good.

Through my many patients and my own lived experience, I have witnessed the suffering and generational impacts of substance abuse and mental health disorders. Yet, in my work I have also seen the power of compassion, listening, and meeting people exactly where they are while insisting they become active and curious participants in their own healing.