Dr Shannon Connolly, MD, FAAFP, DABFP

Dr. Connolly grew up on the East Coast and completed her undergraduate education at Brown University and Harvard University. After college, she worked in a busy urban family planning clinic where she developed a passion for helping people thrive through access to preventive care, health education, and high quality primary care. Dr. Connolly moved to California to attend medical school at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, and then completed a residency in family medicine at UCLA and a fellowship in primary care psychiatry at UC Irvine.

Dr. Connolly worked for over a decade leading a multi-site primary care and behavioral health practice before cofounding Open Arms Primary Care to build a practice that follows her vision for how doctors should treat their patients. She feels that all people deserve compassionate care from a personal physician committed to understanding each individual’s unique needs. Her areas of clinical interest include family planning, behavioral health care, gender affirming care, diabetes, and prevention of chronic disease. Outside of work, Dr. Connolly is very involved with several professional organizations, and holds leadership positions in both the California Academy of Family Physicians (CAFP) and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). She does advocacy work around social justice issues, and has helped develop national medical guidelines and trainings for doctors and clinicians.

For fun, Dr. Connolly enjoys trying new foods, hiking with her dog, Sadie, and rescuing animals.

Dr Shayne Poulin, MD

Dr Poulin grew up in Arizona and attended undergraduate at The University of Arizona. Prior to medical school she taught high school chemistry which fostered a passion for working with an adolescent population. She then returned to the University of Arizona for medical school. She completed Family Medicine Residency at Boston Medical Center/ Boston University. After residency, she became faculty at Boston University School of Medicine and provided care at South Boston Community Health Center.

Dr Poulin moved to California to join Dr Connolly in a practice focused on patient centered primary and reproductive health care. After working together for almost a decade, the doctors founded Open Arms Primary Care to realize the dream of optimizing inclusive patient centered primary care. Dr Poulin is dedicated to making all patients feel welcome by offering gender affirming care, comprehensive reproductive care and behavioral health care.

Dr Poulin is dedicated to improving health care for all by serving in leadership positions in many organizations including the California Academy of Family Physicians. She also completed the UC Irvine Train the Trainer Fellowship in Behavioral Health.

Outside of work she loves spending time with her family especially outdoors and near the ocean. She also love crafting and has melded her passion for medicine, teaching and crafts by creating unique models for medical education.

Dr Amy Tressan, MD

Dr. Tressan grew up in Los Angeles and completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin, Madison where she worked in the student center handing out condoms and helping folks gain access to safe sex education. This experience in addition to her high school dream of becoming Dr. Ruth helped her decide to return to Los Angeles to pursue a career in medicine, specifically a career in sexual and reproductive health. She attended Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and completed her residency in family medicine at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She then completed her medical training with a family planning fellowship with the Reproductive Health Access Project in Boston and a second fellowship with Physicians for Reproductive Health Leadership Training Academy.

Dr Tressan has been working with Dr Poulin and Dr Connolly for the last four years at a large multi-site primary care facility before co-founding Open Arms Primary Care. She is most passionate about providing equitable and compassionate, trauma informed, patient-centered care. Her areas of clinical interest include family planning, vasectomy, sex positive care and gender affirming care. She recognizes the layered systems of oppression that people face making health harder to achieve and wants to work actively to face this with her patients using harm reduction principles and shared decision-making. She wants her patients to feel heard, seen and supported. Outside of work, Dr. Tressan is involved in several professional organizations and holds leadership positions at the Reproductive Health Access Project (RHAP), Los Angeles Academy of Family Physicians (LAFP) and the California Academy of Family Physicians (CAFP).

For fun, Dr. Tressan enjoys hiking, dancing, and trying to keep her plants alive!

Customer Voices

Hear from our valued patients.

Open Arms Primary Care has transformed my healthcare experience. The staff is compassionate and truly listens to my needs.

Alex R.

Riverside

I felt safe and supported during my visit. The inclusive environment made all the difference in my care.

Jamie L.

Orange

★★★★★

★★★★★

Frequently Asked Questions

What is direct primary care?

Direct primary care is a model where patients pay a low monthly membership fee that covers all care, bypassing insurance.

Do you accept insurance?

We do not accept health insurance but offer affordable care options for all patients.

What services do you offer?

We provide a range of services including general primary care, sexual and reproductive health services, gender affirming care, chronic disease management, and behavioral health support.

Where are you located?

We serve Riverside, Orange, and San Bernardino counties.

What is your mascot?

Our mascot is Ollie the octopus, symbolizing our welcoming approach.