Dr Pineda was raised and educated in Southern California, obtaining his doctorate of medicine from University of California (Irvine) in 1990.  His emergency medicine training was completed in 1994 at University of Southern California / Los Angeles County Medical Center (USC+LAC), where he remained as part-time faculty until 2001.  Dr Pineda’s first full time appointment after residency was as faculty in the Dept of Emergency Medicine at the controversial Martin Luther King/ Charles R. Drew Medical Center.  Within two years, a much needed change of pace brought him to Colorado when he joined the group practice of Rocky Mountain Emergency Physicians that contracted with Aurora Presbyterian Medical Center (AKA Aurora North), Centennial Medical Center, and Aurora Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center.  The same year he became part-time faculty in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Denver Health Medical Center.

Formal involvement with Emergency Medical Services in Colorado was initiated and supported by the newly expanded Medical Center of Aurora (TMCA) in 2000. Currently Dr. Pineada has the honor of being the EMS Medical Director for The Aurora Fire Department, Rural Metro Ambulance (Aurora), Bennett Fire, Sable Altura Fire, Strasburg Fire, Deer Trail Fire, and Byers Rescue.  He has also served as Medical Director for The Community College of Aurora Emergency Medical Provider Program since its inception.

Currently his time is shared between clinical shifts at The Medical Center of Aurora and EMS Medical Direction.  Dr. Pineda also continues to enjoy “learning from” the residents and students at Denver Health Medical Center one weekend a month. Spare time is eagerly sought to enjoy a winter day riding the slopes, a summer day hiking Colorado Fourteeners, and any warm day to search for a local crag to climb. Every spring and fall requires an extended “time-out” to wander and climb the Southern California desert.  Most spare moments are shared with his long time girlfriend, Theresa, and together they monitor and guide the maturation of their college student daughter, Sarita.