Born and raised in Michigan, Dr. Blay attended the University of Michigan, graduating with a degree in pharmacy. After attending medical school in Detroit and his internship at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, he moved to California to complete his residency at Highland General Hospital in Oakland. Afterward, Dr. Blay began practicing full time at Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center, where he had a busy Internal Medicine practice for 10 years, before transitioning to the Emergency Room. He was a full-time emergency medicine physician and served as chief of the ER at Kaiser San Jose for over 10 years.