UCSF School of Medicine Vice Dean's Office at ZSFG

Autumn 2022
Advancing health worldwide in the heart of the City
Dear Colleagues,

What rhymes with sesquicentennial?

In 2023 we will celebrate 150 years of partnership between UCSF and the City and County of San Francisco, our sesquicentennial!

The facility we know as “San Francisco General Hospital” was founded in 1872 and clinical services were provided by the Toland Medical School. One year later, Dr. Hugh Toland, the leader of the Toland Medical School, joined with UCSF and the “UCSF School of Medicine” was created. Since then we have partnered with the San Francisco Department of Public Health at every step of the way.

I interviewed Morrie Schambelan, Professor emeritus of Medicine and former Director of the General Clinical Research Center, and asked him to reflect on his 60-year relationship with SFGH, which began with his internship. In 1962 he began a rotating internship and worked only at the General. At the time, interns, residents, and seven Internal Medicine attendings, including Dr. Eliot Rapaport, provided clinical care in the red brick buildings for almost 1,000 hospitalized patients! After internship, Morrie was commissioned to the Navy for a year and later returned to complete his internal medicine residency. In 1971, Morrie joined the faculty just as our campus was transformed by the construction of Building 5 and the metamorphosis of the red brick buildings into research labs. The research community quickly expanded, and Morrie remembers a widespread sense of vitality and camaraderie.

When I asked Morrie to summarize his remarkable career, he shared that he is proudest of his directorship of the Clinical Research Center, particularly “finding people” who were interested in research and in fostering their career development. Most of all, he is inspired by “the faculty who come [to the General] and stay because they care for the safety-net concept.” Since his internship, Morrie has witnessed the richness of our community’s collegiality and the strength of our shared culture.

I am inspired by Morrie’s commitment to the General (“I never wanted to work anywhere else”) and his reflections on the essential attributes of our community. I see an uninterrupted thread, from 1873 through today, in our commitment to the underserved and a commitment to creating a better future. When the only constant is change, I’m confident that our commitment to caring for the underserved, educating the next generation, and advancing knowledge will never change.

Thank you all for your commitment to our mission and for adding your “granito de arroz,” your grain of rice, to the paella we create together.

Here’s to the next sesquicentennial!

Elena Fuentes-Afflick, MD, MPH
Vice Dean
UCSF School of Medicine, ZSFG
Recognize a UCSF colleague today!
When I am among the trees
by Mary Oliver

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”
Research and Academic Building Furniture
Furniture selection in the UCSF at ZSFG Research and Academic Building is finalized. The ZRAB governance and project team reviewed all furniture options with key considerations such as functionality, ergonomics, aesthetics, efficiencies and collaboration. Furniture renderings, like the one of the lobby (above), can be found at https://rabzsfg.ucsf.edu/furniture
Selected Feature Highlights
Zecret Hero 
Anile Woods
Anile (Anne) Woods has worked as Gardening Supervisor at ZSFG for 13 years, managing 23 acres of open space, landscaped areas, gardens, patios and courtyards with her team of gardeners and porters. Formerly a 20-year surgical tech at General Hospital of Cincinnati, Anile feels she has come full circle in her career. She brings a wellness perspective to the Gardening Department, incorporating education, history and the arts to engage ZSFG patients, family, friends and staff. Continue
Updates and Events at ZSFG
Faculty Engagement Town Hall
Tuesday, November 15, 2022
12:05 pm – 1:00 pm
Presentation of survey results and campus initiatives.

Moderator
  • Starr Knight, MD, UCSF Director of Faculty Experience at ZSFG

Presenters
  • Elena Fuentes–Afflick, MD, MPH, Vice Dean at ZSFG

  • Susan P. Ehrlich, MD, MPP, Chief Executive Officer at ZSFG
Staff Career Journey StoryCore
Thursday, November 17, 2022
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Join UCSF staff at ZSFG at the Fall 2022 UCSF Staff Career Journey Storytelling Event at ZSFG.

Panelists Kristin Casey Callaghan and Sabrina Fatima Ahmad will share their career stories. Moderated by Elkin Lara-Mejia. All are welcome on May 5, 2022 from 12-1pm (register below).
Dean's Seminar Series
The Dean's Seminar on November 4, 2022 from 12:00-1:00pm, features Mervyn Maze, Anesthesia, presenting Role of Hippocampal neuronal IL-6 Trans-signaling in Postoperative Cognitive Impairment.
The ZSFG Dean's Seminar Series offers monthly presentations on first Fridays at noon featuring researchers for those interested in research.
Advocacy 101 Webinar
Advocacy 101: Work with policy makers to support clinical care and research at UCSF

UCSF's Director of Local and State Government Relations, Aimee Alden and Director of Advocacy & Communications, Abby Ellis, showed how UCSF's Office of Community and Government Relations helps UCSF employees and learners effectively work with policy makers to advocate for students, fellow clinicians, and important research at ZSFG. More information, listen to the recording. and see Advocacy at UCSF.
Terracotta tile installation is wrapping up on the north face of the building, which will complete exterior work on that side while tiling work continues on the other exterior faces. Interior construction is essentially complete up to level 4 and lab equipment installation is in progress, with furniture installation as a next step. Work on the terrace wall at the west entry to the building site is in progress.
 
Informational presentations about ongoing, priority move preparation initiatives are now posted on the ZRAB Occupant Website. RAB Transition Leaders (RTLs) are currently supporting these initiatives for all groups that will move to the new building, with deadlines approaching soon. Check in with your RTL if you need information or guidance for your group on what you should be doing right now to be ready for the move. Additional details can be found in the monthly project updates from the Vice Dean’s Office at ZSFG.
 
Report concerns or ask questions about the project by emailing UCSF-RAB-ZSFG@ucsf.edu or calling 415-514-7661.
Fun Fact
David Johnson
David Johnson, who formerly worked in UCSF’s personnel department, studied photography from Ansel Adams. His photographs, recognized by the NAACP, portrayed people in the 1940-60s Fillmore on the streets and sidewalks, barbershops, churches, social clubs, and juke joints.

Johnson was recently awarded a 2022 UCSF Medal, UCSF's highest honor, with two other men who co-founded the Black Caucus in May 1968 to advocate for equal opportunity and treatment at UCSF. SF Rec and Park honored him in August by naming a component of Harvey Milk Center the David Johnson Photo Processing Lab and Photo Library.

We are lucky to have two David Johnson photographic images in our hospital: Bayview Girls Hopscotch 6 and Clarence (right), a portrait of a 5-year-old boy sitting on the steps of a Fillmore church.
Clarence, David Johnson, 1947
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