All UCSF Schools Contribute to Partnership with SFGH
Of the many programs linking the School of Nursing with SFGH, the HIV/AIDS Advanced Practice Nurse Education and Training Program offered by the Department of Community Health Systems is one of the most prominent. Developed with the support of a three-year grant from the Division of Nursing in the US Health Resources and Services Administration Bureau of Health Professions, the program offers students the opportunity to work side by side with nationally and internationally recognized HIV experts at UCSF's Positive Health Program, located at SFGH Ward 86. Clinical nurse specialist and nurse practitioner students take a series of courses in HIV/AIDS history, pharmacology and care, and then apply that knowledge in a clinical setting at SFGH. "It's unique to have an HIV nursing curriculum linked to a clinical training site," says Suzan Stringari-Murray, associate clinical professor with the Department of Community Health Systems. "Students are really learning patient-centered, multidisciplinary HIV care." Through a curriculum focused on the chronic care model and clinical training in HIV care, case management, and program planning and evaluation, the program produces students who are leaders in HIV/AIDS services. The Nurse-Midwifery Education Program is another example of a successful partnership between the University and SFGH. Offered jointly by the School of Nursing and the School of Medicine, it provides services to SFGH through the hospital's nurse-midwifery service. Students begin their clinical work at SFGH in the second week of their first quarter, and continue to participate in clinical activities throughout the two-year program. The faculty and students who run SFGH's Nurse-Midwifery Service, called Nurse-Midwives of San Francisco, provide antenatal, intrapartum, postpartum and family planning support to about 500 women per year, and attend 40 percent to 50 percent of births at SFGH. Training at the public hospital gives students the chance to work with vulnerable and underserved women and families, allowing them to fully understand the demands of the profession. School of Pharmacy
San Francisco General Hospital and the School of Pharmacy are strongly connected through many programs run by the Department of Clinical Pharmacy. The department manages the California Poison Control System, which has an important site at SFGH. In addition to conducting poison research and providing information to the public through a telephone hotline, the SFGH site acts as a training ground for physicians and other health care providers in the recognition and management of poisoning emergencies. The department also runs the Drug Research Unit at SFGH, which conducts research in drug development, clinical trial design and drug-disease interactions. Betty Dong, a professor of clinical pharmacy, is very active in the National HIV/AIDS Clinicians' Consultation Center at SFGH. She works with a team of pharmacists, physicians and nurse practitioners to offer advice through the center's National HIV Telephone Consultation Service and National Clinicians Hotline. The department also boasts a large residency program at SFGH, in which students rotate through many outpatient clinics and inpatient care units. They receive hands-on training through clerkships in the General Medicine Clinic, the Family Health Center, the Lipid Clinic and the Anticoagulant Clinic. And the new Emergency Department Clinic has recently been added to that list, providing students with a unique training experience as they serve many poor and underprivileged patients. "This clinic serves patients who have fallen through the cracks in the health care system," says Sharon Youmans, assistant professor of clinical pharmacy and director of the department's programs at SFGH. "The students provide medication, counseling and education. It gives them the opportunity to really use their skills." Clinical pharmacy students also rotate through the Critical Care Unit and the HIV/AIDS Division at SFGH. As in the Emergency Department Clinic, students in these units see underserved, multicultural patients - mostly members of the working poor - whom they would not have the opportunity to serve at UCSF's Parnassus campus. "This has been a staple of our teaching program," says Youmans. "This is where the students get to see the real world." School of Dentistry
The School of Dentistry also provides students the chance to work in a real-world setting through its general practice residency program at SFGH. In addition to training in hospital dentistry, the program offers students the opportunity to work in the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic. Run by students and faculty from the School of Dentistry, the clinic provides both inpatient and outpatient care. Students learn to perform jaw and facial bone surgery for trauma victims, correct facial deformities, and diagnose and treat diseases of the mouth and jaw. Source: Aria Pearson