The highlight of my activity is the teaching program for psychiatric residents at SFGH. As a senior member of the faculty I actively work in recruiting ethnically and culturally diverse groups of residents. Our services expose medical students and residents to our diverse underserved population. By organizing and teaching interviewing course and as the moderator of residents’ case presentations, I offer the model of compassionate, culturally informed and evidence based care. The training at SFGH hospital I organize for our psychiatric residents includes a strong emphasis on health disparities, cultural formulation and residents’ growth through self-awareness and improved emphatic skills. I have refined my own teaching in view of the latest research on learning and have held faculty retreats at SFGH to inspire faculty to embrace opportunities to teach core competencies.



My clinical teaching as consultant to obstetrics and providing treatment models for our mostly Spanish speaking underserved pregnant women has remained very popular with residents. By example, I inspire residents to learn about the development and implementation of an effective integrated mental health/ primary care model of service provision. As part of the “Spring Program” infant parent trained psychologists, pediatricians and the public health nurses, are linked with the HROB- psychiatry team and I have expanded my teaching to include them. I mentor residents to investigate particular aspects of care and collaborate with obstetric residents or the psychiatric inpatient service in developing protocols, treatment guidelines, presentations or publications. My teaching approach has been further enhanced by incorporating my training of the principles of Emotional Brain Training (EBT) as developed by Laurel Mellin into the care of pregnant women.



In my new role of psychiatric consultant to the HSF-Psychosocial Medicine Team and to High User ED Case Management Program, I have expanded my teaching to the psychology interns primary care providers at SFGH and the team members. I have been able to teach how to identify obstacles to optimal health care by patients with mental illness and options for PCP’s and the mental health providers to overcome them. My consultations have been very well received by primary care and mental health providers.