This newsletter has been updated to clarify faculty roles in the Diagnostic Reasoning block.

Bridges Bulletin

Christina Cicoletti, MNA, Named Associate Dean for Medical Education

UCSF School of Medicine recently announced the appointment of Christina Cicoletti, MNA, as Associate Dean for Medical Education, effective June 1, 2023. Christina’s comprehensive understanding of medical education and her ability to build community and develop creative solutions, will ensure that our learning environment will continue to serve as an example for health professions schools across the country.

Learn more about the new Associate Dean for Medical Education

Faculty Educators

Bridges Curriculum Welcomes New Curriculum Leaders

We are pleased to announce the following curriculum team updates for the 2023-2024 academic year. These positions will begin on July 1, 2023.

Directors of Foundations 1 and Foundations 2/Career Launch Justin Sewell, Professor of Medicine, will become the permanent Director of Foundations 1. Sanziana Roman, Professor of Surgery, will serve as Director of Foundations 2 and Career Launch.

Justin Sewell, MD, PhD, MPH Foundations 1 Director Professor of Medicine Sanziana Roman, MD, FACS Foundations 2/Career Launch Director Professor of Surgery

New Course Leadership The following faculty members are taking on additional course leadership positions within the Bridges Curriculum. Katherine Brooks, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, will be joining the Diagnostic Reasoning (DR) team as the Associate Director. Sirisha Narayana, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, will remain the Director of the DR Block. Dr. Narayana will also be joining the Medicine Acting Internship team as the new Associate Director.

Katherine Brooks, MD Diagnostic Reasoning Block  Associate Director Assistant Professor of Medicine Sirisha Narayana, MD Medicine Acting Internship Associate Director Associate Professor of Medicine

Medical Student Coaches

The following faculty members will officially start as Medical Student Coaches on July 1. They began receiving coach training in April in preparation for their new role. For more information about the coaching program, please visit the coaching program webpage.

Camila Cribb Fabersunne, MD, MPH Assistant Professor of Pediatrics Brett Dietz, MD, MS Assistant Professor of Medicine Vivek Murthy, MD Assistant Professor of Medicine

Sriranjani Padmanabhan, MD Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Laalasa Varanasi, MD Assistant Professor of Medicine

Awards and Honors

2023-2025 UCSF Baum Family Faculty Scholars Selected

The UCSF Kanbar Center for Simulation and Clinical Skills is pleased to announce the third cohort of UCSF Baum Family Simulation Faculty Scholars and an additional major gift from the Baum Family. The additional gift will support the use of advanced technology such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and extended reality for experiential learning by establishing a student simulation fellowship, providing essential training equipment and software, supporting a UCSF virtual reality symposium, and elevating funding for the Baum Family Faculty Scholars Program. The UCSF Baum Family Simulation Scholars program, offered in collaboration with the UCSF Center for Faculty Educators, was instituted in 2019 to support the career development and build a robust pipeline of faculty educators with an academic career interest in simulation.

Paul K. Cheng, MD Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology Dr. Cheng's goal for the Baum Family Faculty Scholars Program is to develop simulation curriculum for anesthesiology residents and pain medicine fellows for scenarios related to the subspecialty of pain management. Specifically, this curriculum will provide simulation experiences for pain procedures and model how to respond to intraoperative/procedural complications and emergencies. Within this program he also plans to integrate new technologies including 3D printing and virtual simulation to continue to expand the role and reach of simulation in medical education. Rosalyn Plotzker, MD, MPH Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Dr. Plotzker created the Virtual Approach to Gynecology Project, a gynecologic pelvic exam curriculum for health care trainees that utilizes 360-degree video and virtual reality (VR) simulation. The Project was made in collaboration with UCSF’s anatomy department and the CAPTC. She intends to use her time as a Baum Family Faculty Scholar to implement the Virtual Approach to Gynecology Project at UCSF, research the use of VR in medical education, and collaborate with UCSF’s educational technology champions to advance the use of extended reality in UCSF’s health sciences education.

To learn more about the Baum Faculty Simulation Scholars program, please contact Sandrijn van Schaik, MD, PhD, Baum Family Presidential Chair for Experiential Learning.

In the News

"Racial Affinity Group Caucusing in Medical Education - A Key Supplement to Antiracism Curriculum" published in New England Journal of Medicine The New England Journal of Medicine recently published an article titled, “Racial Affinity Group Caucusing in Medical Education – A Key Supplement to Antiracism Curriculum,” which was authored by a team of UCSF faculty and staff. In the article, the authors discuss racial affinity group caucuses (RAGCs)—facilitated sessions for learners who join groups according to self-identified racial or ethnic identity—as a supplement to antiracism curricula. The authors assert that as academic medicine begins to recognize and examine racism as the root cause of racially disparate health outcomes, we need curricula that utilize new approaches, such as RAGCs, so we can train physicians that are focused on dismantling systems of inequity.   Authors included: Leanna Lewis, MSW; Camila Cribb Fabersunne, MD, MPH; Corina L. Iacopetti, MD, Gabby Negussie-Retta, MS; Dannielle McBride, MD; Paul Irving, BA; and Jyothi Marbin, MD.

Read the full article on Racial Affinity Group Caucusing

Medical Students, Residents, and Faculty Educators Tackle Bias, Equity, and Fairness in Assessment at the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation Conference Last fall, a team of UCSF faculty educators, medical students, and residents presented their research, their experiences, and recommendations at the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation Conference on Ensuring Fairness in Medical Education Assessment.  UCSF medical students and residents provided valuable perspectives based on their experiences with bias in assessment and positive examples of equitable, fair assessment during their clinical learning experiences in undergraduate and graduate medical education. These learners also provided helpful recommendations about steps that education leaders can take to design and implement assessments that are equitable, fair, and enhance learning.   The conference paper titled, “’My Assessments are Biased!’ Measurement and Sociocultural Approaches to Achieve Fairness in Assessment in Medical Education” along with other conference proceedings, were recently published in a supplement in Academic Medicine.

Podcast - The Spark

Did you know a new season of The Spark: Medical Education for Curious Minds, a podcast presenting the people and stories behind medical education at the UCSF School of Medicine and our community of learners, launched late last year? Hosts Chloe Sales (MS2) and Paul Brandfonbrener (MS1) present guests with the question: Where do you find joy, meaning, or purpose in your work? In this season's fifth episode, Paul speaks with Peter Ureste, MD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry. Dr. Ureste holds roles across campus that allow him to mentor the next generation of medical professionals, and he explains the journey that lead him to focus on mentorship. Listen now to the latest season of The Spark: Medical Education for Curious Minds.