Moral Compass

By Dean Schillinger, MD

Dear Colleagues,

Today we are releasing a new film, "Biker with a Moral Compass: Dr. Dick Fine and the Evolving Culture of SFGH", a documentary portraying and paying tribute to the life, times and contributions of UCSF and SFGH physician Dick Fine MD, Founder and Former Director of the General Medicine Clinic, among many things.

Please feel free to share this film with colleagues, friends, and family, and consider using it as part of your health professions trainings.    

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to ask you to consider making a donation on behalf of Dick, and in support of the many causes he has steadfastly stood for. The San Francisco General Hospital Foundation has created the Richard H. Fine Fund, whose purpose is to support education, clinical innovation, and discovery in The Richard H Fine People's Clinic. You can donate here:

• Go to https://sfghf.org/support-us/donate/
• Under the “Please use my Gift” section select “For the following Program or Department” and write in “In Honor of Richard H Fine DGIM Fund”

 Now....ENJOY THE SHOW !

 

Connecting the dots: Health information technology expansion and health disparities

By Courtney Lyles, PhD, Dean Schillinger, MD and Urmimala Sarkar, MD, MPH

Check out our newest essay in PLOS Medicine outlining how health technology could be better designed and implemented to meet the needs of diverse patient populations:

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1001852

Making Older Homelessness a Never Event

by Margot Kushel, MD

On April 2, Bevan Dufty, (@BevanDufty) the director of the HOPE program (Housing Opportunity, Partnerships and Engagement) for San Francisco (aka the official responsible for addressing homeless services and outcomes), posted the following message to his 4500 followers on twitter: “86-year old staying @ECS_SF Next Door Polk/Geary shelter needs help walking/feeding small dog. Without dog, client likely returns to street.”

The future is already here, it just not very evenly distributed.

By Courtney Lyles, PhD

The title of this blog post is a quote by science fiction author William Gibson (who coined the phrase many years ago, by the way).  And I think it is spot on in a number of ways.  It is clear that so many seemingly futuristic technologies have already been developed: from using your smartphone to passively track your activity and mood, to the development of a sensor to test blood glucose through the skin without drawing blood.  But the reality that is so clear to us working in the safety net is that most of these tools are not distributed to those who need it most, and sometimes even only make their way to our settings after they become somewhat obsolete in the tech space.

Primary Care residency alumnae in UCSF Frontiers of Medicine for work in Navajo Nation

Two of our recent graduates from the SFPC residency program, Drs. Mia Lozada and Jennie Wei, were featured in an article, "You Will Become Well", in the UCSF Frontiers of Medicine spring issue.  The article highlighted their dedicated work caring for patients in Navajo Nation in New Mexico at the Gallup Indian Medical Center.

Click here to read more about their work improving health for underserved patients without running water or electricity, in rural and inaccessible communities, and with hugely different cultural expectations and references.

We are so proud of the work they are doing, including starting the first transgender clinic in Navajo Nation and diving into the quality improvement work at their health center! 

From e-patients to all patients

by Urmimala Sarkar, MD MPH

As a primary care provider practicing in the safety net, I work with incredibly diverse patients with chronic illness. My patients have a wide range of beliefs and preferences about how to best manage their health. I believe their varied perspectives, if more widely shared, could meaningfully improve health care.

Introducing the Next Generation of Primary Care Leaders for the Under-served!

For those of your that may not know, Friday, March 20 was Match Day - the  much-anticipated day in which medical students find out where they will do their residency training.  For those that may not be in medicine, the path to an MD (medical doctor) degree includes (typically) - 4 years of college, then 4 years of medical school, and then 3-7 years of residency training, depending on what field you decide to pursue.

I am fortunate to be the Associate Program Director for a residency track called the San Francisco General Primary Care program, or SFPC, which is a track within the University of California, San Francisco Internal Medicine residency program.  Every year we recruit eight outstanding individuals that exhibit a true commitment to primary care for under-served populations.  

Given the leadership roles that our graduates go on to play in caring for vulnerable populations, it gives me great privilege to introduce the newest 8!  

Chloe Ciccariello 

Chloe is finishing medical school at Mt. Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine.  She worked previously as a peer educator, and elaborated on those skills while at Mt. Sinai taking on several leadership positions within the East Harlem Health Outreach Partnership (EHHOP) Clinic.  She has also been involved in Primary Care Progress, working towards the goal of having more trainees pursue careers in primary care. 

Matt Hickey

Matt is completing medical school at the University of California, San Francisco.  He has a strong, long-standing interest in global health and HIV care, most recently working on a project about engaging social networks to aid in HIV treatment.  He has also worked on decreasing conflict of interest among academic educators, and education programs for youth. 

Ashley McMullen 

Ashley will be coming from the University of Texas, Houston School of Medicine.  She has significant experience in basic science research on tuberculosis, but has developed increasing interest in HIV primary care, working with homeless adults, and advocacy. She has also developed educational opportunities for peers on the topics of street medicine and HIV care.

Alicia Morehead-Gee

Alicia is currently enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Drew School of Medicine.  Alicia has researched several underserved populations, including HIV-positive adults in South Los Angeles suffering from mental illness and rural Ghanaians.  She also has served in leadership roles with the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) and has consistently worked on mentorship and pipeline programs for youth.    

Kenny Pettersen

Kenny is finishing medical school at the University of California, San Francisco.  Kenny has been a leader in UCSF's student-run Homeless Clinic and has established several programs and performed research in Haiti.  He is particularly interested in the role of informational technology in aiding chronic disease management abroad. 

Arjun Suri

Arjun will be graduating medical school from Harvard.  He has extensive experience working abroad - most recently in Cuba to understand primary care and social medicine training, but also in Peru related to community-driven approaches to quality improvement, and India studying neonatal and maternal health.  He is also very interested in systems improvements within urban, public hospitals. 

Emily Thomas

Emily is completing medical school at Yale University.  She has been particularly interested in studying incarcerated populations and characterizing the health disparities that exist among these individuals.  She has also been involved in the student-run free clinic (HAVEN) and supporting fellow students to participate in service activities while at Yale. 

Jessica Wang

Jessica is finishing medical school at Yale University, as well.  She is interested in improving patient safety by decreasing medication errors.  She has also been an active leader in several student-run free clinics at Yale (HAVEN, Neighborhood Health Project).  She aims to be a provider and educator in the service of vulnerable patients. 

We feel incredibly fortunate to have this group joining our community - Congratulations and Welcome!!