Clinician Educator Fellowship

The vision of the UCSF Division of General Internal Medicine (DGIM) Clinician Educator Fellowship is to train future leaders in academic general internal medicine.

We are pleased to offer multiple Clinician Educator Fellowship positions in general internal medicine for the 2024 – 2025 academic year. Fellowship positions are structured as a one-year program but may be extended to two years with Fellowship Director approval. These positions are designed to prepare fellows for faculty careers as clinician-educators in academic general internal medicine by expanding skills in clinical medicine, clinical teaching, scholarship and medical education.

Clinical and Educational Activities

Each fellow will spend approximately 40% time in direct clinical care and precepting. Fellows will provide primary care for their own panel of patients at one of the DGIM ambulatory sites at UCSF Health’s Mount Zion Campus and will see patients for urgent care at the Screening and Acute Care Clinic on the Parnassus Campus; they shall teach/supervise residents and medical students at UCSF’s Mt. Zion campus. Longitudinal mentorship will be provided by the Fellowship Director as well as other experienced UCSF faculty. Fellows will gather regularly for Fellow Didactics (topics including: clinical precepting skills, development of a clinician-educator CV/portfolio, job negotiations, being a mentor, etc.) and will participate in UCSF-wide Educational Scholarship Conferences (ESCape), Equity and Justice in Education sessions, as well as Health Professions Education Journal Clubs, throughout the year. Fellows will have opportunities to teach in resident didactics and attend resident retreats as well as to teach students within the UCSF School of Medicine.  

Primary Care Clinic Population

DGIM provides primary care for a socioeconomically and ethnically diverse patient population of over 25,000 patients at 3 clinical sites (with a 4^th site to soon launch) on Mt. Zion Campus. The population we serve is approximately 47% White, 26% Asian, 10% Latinx, 8% African American, and 9% other ethnicities. The payor mix is also diverse: about 53% private insurance, 24% Medicare, 6% Medicare Advantage, 13% Medi-Cal, and 4% self-pay. We strive to be a welcoming outpatient practice that treats patients of any ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity, and socioeconomic background with respect, dedication, and partnership. We have many research faculty, QI leaders, and clinic leaders dedicated to studying health disparities and developing creative solutions to promote equity.

Scholarship and Career Development

Approximately 60% of the fellows' effort will be directed to scholarship and development of an area of expertise in academic general internal medicine and primary care. Fellows can take advantage of our Health Professions Education Pathways Program and/or the Teach for UCSF Certification Program. Fellows can also consider taking graduate courses within UCSF and some fellows have pursued a MA in Education at UC Berkeley. All fellows are expected to complete a scholarly project of their choosing (research, curriculum development, health systems improvement project, etc.) and disseminate this work at local and/or national meetings. Fellows are strongly encouraged to pursue projects that address health disparities and promote equity. Here is a sample fellow’s schedule (of note, this template may change in the future depending on session availability).

Fellows will also have the opportunity to develop additional clinical expertise in a specific area of clinical medicine, if desired. Recent prior fellows have developed areas of expertise and scholarship in clinical geriatrics, hepatology, addiction medicine, behavioral medicine, and quality improvement. Other potential areas of expertise and scholarship might include systems change, women's health, preventive medicine, clinical nutrition, weight management, medical informatics, etc.

Area of Concentration (AOC) 

New to the fellowship, fellows have the option to participate in an Area of Concentration (AOC):

1. Mental/Behavioral Health: There is a growing need to integrate medical and behavioral health care into primary care practices. In this AOC, fellows will work closely with our Practice-Embedded Psychiatrist (Dr. Samelson-Jones), the Behavioral Health Navigation Team, and a faculty mentor on projects related to mental/behavioral health gaps in our patients’ care and resident curriculum. They will have opportunities to refine their clinical skills in mental/behavioral health under the guidance of Dr. Samelson-Jones.   
    
2. Obesity Medicine: While obesity rates continue to rise, most primary care providers do not feel they have adequate training in nutrition and obesity medicine. In this AOC, fellows will receive formal training in obesity medicine by spending a portion of their clinical time in the weight management clinic and receiving didactic lessons. They can also focus their scholarly work on projects related to undergraduate or graduate medical education in obesity medicine, community-based interventions, and/or quality improvement projects. Fellows will work closely with our Weight Management Clinic Director (Dr. Diana Thiara) and other members of the interdisciplinary team.
    
3. Health Systems Science/Clinical Innovation: Primary care practices are undergoing clinical transformation and continuous improvement to meet the needs of patients and providers alike and implementing QI efforts and educating others about how to perform QI projects is key. In this AOC, fellows will work closely with the Fellowship Director, who is also the DGIM Resident Quality Improvement Champion, to teach and mentor trainees through QI projects via the longitudinal primary care residency QI curriculum. Additionally, they will participate in our Division’s QI efforts, actively attend the QI committee, and will complete the Teaching Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (QI/PS) track of the Teach for UCSF Certification Program.

Details

Applicants must have completed (or be in the final year of) an approved residency in Internal Medicine or Med-Peds. Fellows will be selected based on demonstrated excellence in clinical care and teaching and academic promise. Individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply as we are committed to recruitment of applicants who can contribute to diversity. Salary with benefits will be provided at the appropriate UCSF post-graduate level (for reference: in 2023-2024 PGY-4 salary, which includes annual salary plus housing stipend, is $96,207/year). Moreover, fellows will receive a meal card to use at UCSF cafeterias (for reference: in 2023-2024 this is $300/month). All fellows will have 4 weeks of vacation time to use at their discretion, a few additional days off during the winter holiday season, as well as all clinic holidays off.  

To apply for the 2024-25 Academic Year, please send a CV, letter of intent, contributions to diversity statement, and name/roles/email/telephone numbers for 3 references (whom will be contacted at a later time) to the Fellowship Director Mike Cheng ([email protected]). Please reference this website for more information about the contributions to diversity statement.

The application opens July 1, 2023 and the suggested deadline is Jan 12, 2024, however applications may continue to be accepted until positions are filled. We encourage you to apply early. Most interviews will typically be scheduled in the Fall and held virtually; offers will be made on a rolling basis. As our Fellowship is a non-ACGME Fellowship, offers are non-binding. Start dates are as early as July 1, 2024 but are negotiable.

Thank you for your interest, I look forward to hearing from you soon!

 

 

Mike Kai Wick Cheng, MD
(He / Him / His)
UCSF DGIM Clinician Educator Fellowship Director