Louise Aronson, MD

Title(s)Professor, Medicine
SchoolSchool of Medicine
Address490 Illinois Street
San Francisco CA 94158
Phone415-502-1000 ext. 14595
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    Collapse Biography 
    Collapse Education and Training
    Brown UniversityBA1986History, Medical Anthropology
    Harvard UniversityM.D.1992School of Medicine
    University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)Residency Internal Medicine
    UCSFFellowship1996Primary Care/Medical Education
    UCSFFellowship1998Geriatrics
    Warren Wilson Program for WritersMFA2006Creative Writing
    University of California2018Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training
    University of ArizonaFellowship2020Integrative Medicine
    Collapse Awards and Honors
    Wayne State University2020Bonner Book Award
    Pulitzer Prizes2020Pulitzer Prize finalist, General Nonfiction
    Next Avenue20192019 Influencer in Aging
    UNECOM2019Humanism in Aging Leadership Award
    MacDowell Colony2017Fellowship Award
    Association of American Medical Colleges2016Jordan J Cohen lecture
    American Geriatrics Society2014Outstanding Mid-Career Clinical Teacher
    Alpha Omega Alpha2014National Honor Medical Society
    Arnold P. Gold Foundation2013Gold Professorship for Humanism in Medicine
    UCSF Division of Geriatrics2012  - 2014Lieberman Scholar Award
    Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society2010  - 2011Edward D. Harris Professionalism Award
    UCSF Academy of Medical Educators2010  - 2011Cooke Award for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
    Hedgebrook Foundation2010  - 2011Writer's Award
    UCSF Pathways to Discovery2009  - 2010Mentor Award
    UCSF Academy of Medical Educators2009  - 2010Membership
    UCSF Academy of Medical Educators2009  - 2010Teaching Award
    Western Group on Educational Affairs2009  - 2010Poster Award
    Ragdale Foundation2009  - 2010Writer's Award
    UCSF2008  - 2010Medical Education Research Fellowship
    Sonora Review2007  - 2008Story Prize
    Bureau of Health Professions2007  - 2010Geriatric Academic Career Award
    UCSF2007  - 2008Teaching Scholar
    New Millennium Writings2006  - 2007Short Fiction Award
    UCross Foundation2006  - 2007Writer's Award
    Northern California Geriatrics Education Center2005  - 2006Geriatrics Faculty Scholar
    California Association for Health Services at Home1997  - 1998Physician of the Year Award

    Collapse Overview 
    Collapse Overview
    Louise Aronson, MD MFA, is a leading geriatrician, writer, educator, professor of medicine at UCSF and the author of the New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize finalist Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, and Reimagining Life. A graduate of Harvard Medical School, Dr. Aronson has received the Gold Professorship in Humanism in Medicine, the California Homecare Physician of the Year award, and the American Geriatrics Society Clinician-Teacher of the Year award. Her current work is focused on expanding geriatric care and public perceptions of old age to more accurately attend to the decades and diversity of elderhood, developing innovative programs and practices to empower older adults to retain agency and maximize wellness as they age. At UCSF, Louise has served as director of the Pathways to Discovery program, the Northern California Geriatrics Education Center, the Optimizing Aging Project, and as Chief of Geriatrics Education. Her writing credits include the New York Times, Atlantic, Washington Post, Discover, Vox, JAMA, Lancet, and the New England Journal of Medicine, and she has been featured on TODAY, CBS This Morning, NPR’s Fresh Air, Morning Edition, Politico, Kaiser Health News, Tech Nation and the New Yorker. Currently, Dr. Aronson divides her time among patient care, community-based aging innovations, teaching, health advocacy in the media, and writing.

    Collapse Research 
    Collapse Research Activities and Funding
    California Adult and Senior Care Program Provider Information for Infection Control and Covid-19
    California Department of Social Services Jan 1, 2021 - Jun 30, 2022
    Role: Principal Investigator
    AGE SELF CARE: Leveraging Technology to Expand Access to Safe & Healthy Aging in Place
    Mount Zion Health Fund Grant 20210389Jan 1, 2021 - Apr 30, 2022
    Role: Principal Investigator
    AGE SELF CARE: Leveraging Technology to Expand Access to Safe & Healthy Aging in Place
    Mount Zion Health Fund Grant 20210389Jan 1, 2021 - Apr 30, 2022
    Role: Principal Investigator
    Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program
    HRSA HRSAJul 1, 2019 - Jun 30, 2023
    Role: Co-Investigator
    Closing the Gap: Improving access to care and services at home for older adults
    Anonymous Jul 1, 2018 - Jun 30, 2023
    Role: Principal Investigator
    Integrative Aging: A Clinical-Educational Innovation to Expand Care for Older Adults
    Mount Zion Health Fund Jul 1, 2018 - Jun 30, 2019
    Role: Principal Investigator
    Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program
    HRSA Jul 1, 2015 - Jun 30, 2019
    Role: Initial Principal Investigator now Co-I
    Promoting Research Opportunities Fully--Prospective Academics Transforming Health
    NIH R25MD006832Jul 14, 2011 - Apr 30, 2017
    Role: Principal Investigator

    Collapse Featured Content 
    Collapse Twitter
    Collapse Featured Videos

    Collapse Bibliographic 
    Collapse Publications
    Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Researchers can login to make corrections and additions, or contact us for help. to make corrections and additions.
    Newest   |   Oldest   |   Most Cited   |   Most Discussed   |   Timeline   |   Field Summary   |   Plain Text
    Altmetrics Details PMC Citations indicate the number of times the publication was cited by articles in PubMed Central, and the Altmetric score represents citations in news articles and social media. (Note that publications are often cited in additional ways that are not shown here.) Fields are based on how the National Library of Medicine (NLM) classifies the publication's journal and might not represent the specific topic of the publication. Translation tags are based on the publication type and the MeSH terms NLM assigns to the publication. Some publications (especially newer ones and publications not in PubMed) might not yet be assigned Field or Translation tags.) Click a Field or Translation tag to filter the publications.
    1. Covid-19: a call for mobilizing geriatric expertise. Eur Geriatr Med. 2021 06; 12(3):597-600. O'Hanlon S, Dhesi J, Aronson L, Inouye SK. PMID: 33891278; PMCID: PMC8063189.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: Translation:Humans
    2. Walter L and Chang A. Lange Current Geriatrics. Integrative Geriatrics and Cannabis Use. 2020. Aronson L and Keyhani S.
    3. Healthy Aging Across the Stages of Old Age. Clin Geriatr Med. 2020 11; 36(4):549-558. Aronson L. PMID: 33010893.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 2     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    4. Evidence, Efficacy, and Economics-A Better Path Forward for US Health Care. JAMA Netw Open. 2020 08 03; 3(8):e2016118. Aronson L. PMID: 32865570.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions:    Fields:    Translation:Humans
    5. Friedman, S. Clinics in Geriatrics Medicine. Healthy Aging Across the Stages of Old Age. 2020. Aronson L.
    6. Beyond a Moment - Reckoning with Our History and Embracing Antiracism in Medicine. N Engl J Med. 2020 Oct 08; 383(15):1404-1406. Paul DW, Knight KR, Campbell A, Aronson L. PMID: 32722907.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 7     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    7. Story as Evidence, Evidence as Story. JAMA. 2020 05 05; 323(17):1694-1695. Aronson L. PMID: 32369141.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions:    Fields:    
    8. Age, Complexity, and Crisis - A Prescription for Progress in Pandemic. N Engl J Med. 2020 Jul 02; 383(1):4-6. Aronson L. PMID: 32267649.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 17     Fields:    Translation:HumansPHPublic Health
    9. Better Medical Care for the Elderly. Saturday Evening Post. 2020. Aronson L.
    10. Ageism Is Making the Pandemic Worse. The Atlantic. 2020. Aronson L.
    11. Coronavirus Reveals Just How Little Compassion We Have for Old People. Vox. 2020. Aronson L.
    12. Covid19 Kills Only Old People. Only?. New York Times. 2020. Aronson L.
    13. Bylander, J. Narrative Matters: Writing to Change the Healthcare System. How health care fails older patients and how it can be done better. 2020; 209-18. Aronson L.
    14. Act Three. Harvard Medicine Magazine. 2020. Aronson L.
    15. We Can Help Men Live Longer. New York Times. 2019. Aronson L.
    16. A Dire Diagnosis and Multiple Medications. Discover magazine. 2019. Aronson L.
    17. Evaluation of a Medical Student Research and Career Development Program to Increase Diversity in Academic Medicine. Acad Med. 2019 08; 94(8):1220-1228. Fernandez A, Chen V, Quan J, Martinez A, Flowers L, Aronson L. PMID: 30998582.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 4     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    18. Is a Person Ever Too Old to Be President?. Washington Post. 2019. Aronson L.
    19. Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life. 2019. Aronson L.
    20. Don't Ruin My Life - Aging and Driving in the 21st Century. N Engl J Med. 2019 Feb 21; 380(8):705-707. Aronson L. PMID: 30786184.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 3     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    21. NIH Needs to Make Clinical Research More Inclusive. STAT. 2019. Aronson L.
    22. U.S. Hospitals Ignore Improving Eldercare. That's a Mistake. STAT. 2018. Aronson L.
    23. Destroyed but Not Defeated. Lancet. 2018; 10137(391):2312. Marchalik D, Aronson L.
    24. Necessary Violence. New England Review. 2017; 3(38). Aronson L.
    25. Stop Treating 70- and 90-Year Olds the Same. New York Times Sunday Review. 2017.
    26. A Tale of Two Doctors - Structural Inequalities and the Culture of Medicine. N Engl J Med. 2017 06 15; 376(24):2390-2393. Aronson L. PMID: 28614681.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 1     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    27. Perspectives of low-income chronically ill patients on complex care management. Fam Syst Health. 2017 Dec; 35(4):399-408. Mao AY, Willard-Grace R, Dubbin L, Aronson L, Fernandez A, Burke NJ, Finch J, Davis E. PMID: 28447834.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 2     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    28. Case-Based Suffering. Acad Med. 2017 04; 92(4):482. Aronson L. PMID: 28350612.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions:    Fields:    Translation:Humans
    29. Don’t Discriminate Against Mutants Like Me. New York Times. 2017. Aronson L.
    30. A PIECE OF MY MIND. Story as Evidence, Evidence as Story. JAMA. 2015 Jul 14; 314(2):125-6. Aronson L. PMID: 26172890.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 2     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    31. Chronic care management for Medicare patients--reply. JAMA. 2015 Jun 09; 313(22):2286-7. Bautista CA, Covinsky K, Aronson L. PMID: 26057296.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 1     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    32. Essential steps in developing best practices to assess reflective skill: A comparison of two rubrics. Med Teach. 2016; 38(1):75-81. Miller-Kuhlmann R, O'Sullivan PS, Aronson L. PMID: 25923234.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 6     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    33. The Medical System May Treat You Well But Less So After You Reach Age 80. Washington Post. 2015.
    34. Necessary steps: how health care fails older patients, and how it can be done better. Health Aff (Millwood). 2015 Mar; 34(3):528-32. Aronson L. PMID: 25732503.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 4     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    35. Medicare and care coordination: expanding the clinician's toolbox. JAMA. 2015 Feb 24; 313(8):797-8. Aronson L, Bautista CA, Covinsky K. PMID: 25710653.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 5     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    36. The human lifecycle's neglected stepchild. Lancet. 2015 Feb 07; 385(9967):500-1. Aronson L. PMID: 25713844.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 2     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    37. Teaching geriatric fellows how to teach: a needs assessment targeting geriatrics fellowship program directors. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2014 Dec; 62(12):2377-82. Rivera V, Yukawa M, Aronson L, Widera E. PMID: 25516033.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 6     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    38. The Human Lifecycle's Neglected Stepchild. Lancet. 2014; (385):500-501. Aronson L.
    39. New Buildings for Older People. New York Times. 2014; Nov 1. Aronson L.
    40. Asking the right questions. Acad Med. 2014 Oct; 89(10):1357. Aronson L. PMID: 25247543.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions:    Fields:    Translation:Humans
    41. The future of robot caregivers. New York Times. 2014; July 20. Aronson L.
    42. Lancet. Examining empathy. 2014; 385(9937):16-17. Aronson L.
    43. How do we tell the stories of medicine? Lancet. 2014 Apr 26; 383(9927):1456-7. Aronson L. PMID: 24779054.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 1     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    44. Current Geriatric Diagnosis and Treatment. Interprofessional Teams in Geriatrics. 2014. Rivera J, Reeves S, Aronson L.
    45. Elder self-neglect--how can a physician help? N Engl J Med. 2013 Dec 26; 369(26):2476-9. Smith AK, Lo B, Aronson L. PMID: 24369074; PMCID: PMC4035097.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 1     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    46. "Good" patients and "difficult" patients--rethinking our definitions. N Engl J Med. 2013 Aug 29; 369(9):796-7. Aronson L. PMID: 23984727.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 9     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    47. The value of medical education programmes: what are the right questions? Med Educ. 2013 Apr; 47(4):333-4. Aronson L. PMID: 23488750.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions:    Fields:    Translation:Humans
    48. Weighing the end of life. New York Times. 2013. Aronson, L. View Publication.
    49. A History of the Present Illness. 2013. Aronson, L.
    50. Bruinsma G and Weisburd D (Eds). Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Aging in Correctional Populations: Through the Geriatrician's Lens. 2013. Williams B, Ahalt C and Aronson L.
    51. A comparison of two methods of teaching reflective ability in Year 3 medical students. Med Educ. 2012 Aug; 46(8):807-14. Aronson L, Niehaus B, Hill-Sakurai L, Lai C, O'Sullivan PS. PMID: 22803758.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 15     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    52. J Am Geriatr Soc. The UCSF Interprofessional Aging and Palliative Care Elective. 2012; 4(60). Rivera J, Mackin L, Aronson L.
    53. The UCSF Faculty Development Workshop on Critical Reflection in Medical Education: Training Educators to Teach and Provide Feedback on Learners’ Reflections. MedEdPORTAL/9086. 2012. Aronson L, Kruidering M, O'Sullivan P.
    54. The UCSF LEaP: A Guide for Reflective Learning in Medical Education. MedEdPORTAL/9073. 2012. Aronson L, Niehaus B, Kruidering M, O’Sullivan P.
    55. Pressure ulcers in long-term care. Clin Geriatr Med. 2011 May; 27(2):241-58. White-Chu EF, Flock P, Struck B, Aronson L. PMID: 21641509.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 17     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    56. Development and pilot testing of a reflective learning guide for medical education. Med Teach. 2011; 33(10):e515-21. Aronson L, Niehaus B, Lindow J, Robertson PA, O'Sullivan PS. PMID: 21942487.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 8     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    57. Do writing and storytelling skill influence assessment of reflective ability in medical students' written reflections? Acad Med. 2010 Oct; 85(10 Suppl):S29-32. Aronson L, Niehaus B, DeVries CD, Siegel JR, O'Sullivan PS. PMID: 20881698.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 2     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    58. Twelve tips for teaching reflection at all levels of medical education. Med Teach. 2011; 33(3):200-5. Aronson L. PMID: 20874014.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 38     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    59. MedEdPORTAL. Reflective Ability Rubric and User Guide. 2010; (8133). OSullivan P; Aronson L; Chittenden E; Niehaus B; Learman L . View Publication.
    60. Why geriatrics? Ann Intern Med. 2010 Jan 05; 152(1):61. Aronson L. PMID: 20048275.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions:    Fields:    Translation:Humans
    61. A faculty development workshop in teaching reflection. Med Educ. 2009 May; 43(5):499. Aronson L, Chittenden E, O'Sullivan P. PMID: 19422521.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 1     Fields:    
    62. Journal of Aging, Humanities and the Arts. The Ethics of Everyday Life. 2009; 2(3):150. Aronson L.
    63. Osler’s Bedside Library: Great Literature from a Great Physician. LaCombe M (Ed.). Osler, Plutarch and the Intimate Observation of Human Behavior. 2009. Aronson L.
    64. Medical linguistics. J Gen Intern Med. 2007 Dec; 22(12):1781. Aronson L. PMID: 17924173; PMCID: PMC2219831.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 1     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    65. BARK. A New Breed of Magic: Canine Assistance in Alzheimer’s Care. 2000. Aronson L.
    66. San Francisco Chronicle. A City Full of the Hidden Homebound. 1999. Aronson L. View Publication.
    67. San Francisco Chronicle. The Fear of Losing Who We Are. 1999. Aronson L. View Publication.
    68. Examining older people for carotid bruits: listen to your patient, not her neck. J Gen Intern Med. 1998 Feb; 13(2):140-1. Aronson L, Landefeld CS. PMID: 9502377; PMCID: PMC1496909.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions:    Fields:    Translation:Humans
    69. Traditional Cambodian health beliefs and practices. Rhode Island Medical Journal. 1987; 70(2):73-8. Aronson L.
    70. Refugee intermediaries and the delivery of health care to Cambodian refugees. Practicing Anthropology. 1987; (November). Aronson L.
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