UCSF Fresno Names Ivan Albert Gomez as Chief of Family and Community Medicine
He Will Serve as Vice-Chair of Family and Community Medicine at UCSF
After a nationwide search, UCSF Fresno Medical Education Program recently announced the appointment of Ivan Albert Gomez, MD, FAAFP, as Chief of Family and Community Medicine and Vice-Chair of Family and Community Medicine at UCSF.
As chief, Dr. Gomez provides visionary leadership for the clinical, educational and research components of family and community medicine at UCSF Fresno. In addition, Gomez will continue his academic appointment as UCSF Clinical Professor of Family Medicine at UCSF Fresno.
“Dr. Gomez’s commitment to caring for the underserved and his dedication to our medical education program is commendable and unwavering,” said UCSF Fresno Associate Dean Michael W. Peterson, MD. “He has led a successful residency program and will be a strong and effective leader for UCSF Fresno Family and Community Medicine and for primary care.”
Gomez has a special interest in HIV/AIDS care and Hepatitis co-infection. He has remained focused on these areas since his initial appointment at UCSF Fresno and continues to provide care largely for Spanish-speaking adults as well as for positive pediatric and maternal HIV-infected patients.
He started his career at UCSF Fresno in 2000 as an assistant clinical professor of family medicine after completing residency training. He and his wife, Rhonda Keosheyan, MD, who was born and raised in Fresno, moved to the area to be near her family and start a family of their own while he pursued his passion for working with the underserved.
Gomez held concurrent physician positions in Reedley and served as the medical director of the Pacific AIDS Education and Training Centers, San Joaquin Valley Local Performance Site until he became assistant program director of the UCSF Fresno Department of Family and Community Medicine in 2004. He was appointed program director of UCSF Fresno Family and Community Medicine in 2005 and has served in that capacity since then.
“The Family and Community Residency Program has made great strides along with the rest of UCSF Fresno in addressing the health care workforce needs of the Central Valley,” said Gomez. “This is largely the result of a dedicated team of faculty and staff with support from community partners.
“My goal for the department is to further expand existing collaborations and partner with other stakeholders in the Valley who are similarly motivated to address the health care access and workforce development needs of the region,” Gomez added.
Among his accomplishments as program director, Gomez developed joint educational experiences with other residency specialties at UCSF Fresno, including obstetrics/ gynecology and pediatrics to expand the clinical experience for residents and to promote the program mission of preparing resident physicians for practice in resource-poor areas. He established a Maternal-Child Fellowship in 2013 and an HIV Fellowship in 2010. He served as program director of the UCSF Fresno HIV/AIDS Fellowship Program from 2010 to 2014 and program director of the UCSF Fresno Maternal Child Health Fellowship program from 2013 to 2014 and 2015 to 2016. Both programs are currently offered at UCSF Fresno.
Gomez is the recipient of numerous awards, including membership in the UCSF Academy of Medical Educators; the Cooke Award for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning from The UCSF Academy of Medical Educators; Program Director Recognition Award, Silver Level, from the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors; Distinguished Alumni Award – Merced Residency Program, UC Davis Family Medicine Residency Network and the Enrique Lopez Award of Excellence in HIV/AIDS Care, a community-sponsored award in Fresno.
He is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians; California Academy of Family Physicians; Fresno Madera Medical Society; Society of Teachers of Family Medicine; American Academy of HIV Medicine; American Academy of Pediatrics-Perinatal Section; and the Council of Academic Family Medicine – Advocacy Network.
Gomez earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry at UCLA and a master’s in applied physiology at the University of Health Sciences, The Chicago Medical School. He earned a medical degree from Finch University of Health Sciences, The Chicago Medical School and completed residency training at Sutter Merced Medical Center Family Practice Residency Program through the UC Davis Family Practice Residency Network in Merced. He completed a one-year fellowship with the Family Medicine Faculty Development Fellowship Program at UCSF.
Gomez enjoys playing the classical piano in his spare time. He and Dr. Keosheyan have three daughters.
About UCSF Fresno: UCSF Fresno Medical Education Program, established in 1975, plays a substantial role in providing health care to residents of California’s San Joaquin Valley and training medical professionals in the region. UCSF Fresno is the San Joaquin Valley’s largest physician-training program. Annually, UCSF Fresno currently trains approximately 250 medical residents (medical school graduates who are training under senior faculty physicians prior to practicing on their own) in eight specialties, 10 oral and maxillofacial surgery dental residents, 50 medical fellows (physicians who are completing training beyond residency) in 17 subspecialties, approximately 300 medical students (students in the process of earning medical degrees) on a rotating basis and physician assistants in three residency programs. Recent statistics show that 50 percent of the physicians trained by UCSF Fresno stay in the region to provide UCSF care in the Central Valley. Thanks to the expertise of faculty physicians, the majority of complex cases can be appropriately treated locally without traveling outside of the region for exceptional care. Faculty and medical residents at UCSF Fresno engage in a broad spectrum of research addressing health issues pertinent to the Valley. Faculty and residents also care for the overwhelming majority of the region’s underserved populations. In addition, UCSF Fresno helps prepare middle, high school and college students for careers in health and medicine through a variety of pipeline programs. Please visit www.fresno.ucsf.edu
About UCSF: UCSF is a leading university dedicated to transforming health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate‐level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. Founded in 1864 as a medical college, UCSF now includes top‐ranked graduate schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy; a graduate division with world‐renowned programs in the biological sciences, a preeminent biomedical research enterprise and top‐tier hospitals, UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals. Please visit www.ucsf.edu/news