Education & Training
Undergraduate: Brown University
Medical School: UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program
General Surgery Residency: UCSF-East Bay
Fellowship: Surgical Critical Care, LAC/University of Southern California
Employment
Assistant Professor, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
What was your favorite thing about UCSF East Bay?
It really is difficult to choose just one thing. I miss the sense of collective investment in one another that the residents had. For example, I had a bond with my co-residents and attendings that both supported and challenged me. This helped me develop independence and confidence as a surgeon. Likewise, I felt invested in my co-residents and their growth, and we worked together as a program to better ourselves and the care we provided. Similarly, as a trainee, I felt like I was serving the community with a group of like-minded peers, and this mission of the program still resonates strongly. One of my proudest moments as an alumnus was seeing the current resident statement in support of Black Lives Matter and their commitment to addressing structural racism. Lastly, I loved living in Oakland, a city with a rich history of social and political activism. Surgical training can consume you, so it was important for me to be in a place where my family and I could have community with our friends and family.
What about UCSF East Bay most helps you in your career now?
Training at East Bay helped me develop an attending mindset before graduation, both regarding clinical decision-making and operative skills. I learned how to recognize my limits and ask for help. I learned how to operate independently and communicate effectively with an operating room team. I learned how to apply what I read in a book to real-time, bedside issues. And lastly, I learned how to advocate for my patients and work within a resource-limited setting to provide quality clinical care.