History

Richard Haber, MD

Richard "Rick" Haber was the pioneering founder of San Francisco General Hospital's Division of General Internal Medicine and its primary care residency track of the UCSF internal medicine residency. For many years, Rick was the inspiration and force that made it all work. Thanks to his vision, energy and spirit, we continue to have a unique residency training program that attracts the best medical students in the country for outstanding clinical training for a career in caring for underserved and vulnerable patients.

Rick was a passionate voice for medical education. He was a teacher among teachers and an advocate for this role even as the ever growing business model of medicine tried to squeeze the opportunities for reflection and learning out of our system. Rick loved to teach and he always did so in a way that made a learner feel more confident and less alone. He had a unique ability to calmly guide third year medical students during their first clinical experiences in medicine. Rick was also a cherished resource for the housestaff and faculty. His door was always open to whoever had a clinical question.

After consulting with Rick's family and with faculty at San Francisco General Hospital who knew him best, we have decided to establish a fund in Rick's name that would enable us to invite nationally recognized teachers of primary care to visit San Francisco General Hospital on an annual basis. The visiting professor would provide a Grand Rounds talk on primary care medical education and be available to meet with residents, students and faculty in the Division with the hope that through this event we could help to keep Rick's dream of support for medical education alive and meaningful for generations of primary care doctors to come.

DGIM Honorary Lectureships

Every year in the fall, the SFGH Division of General Internal Medicine invites a pre-eminent, national leader in primary care practice and education to visit UCSF/SFGH for the Richard J. Haber, MD Memorial Lectureship. Dr. Haber was a tireless teacher of primary care and clinical GIM, with a focus on both medical student and resident learners. After a stint in the Public Health Service, he dedicated his career to this work, teaching young people how to practice good medicine for the underserved. He passed away a few years ago and a lectureship was created both to honor his memory, as well as inspire sustained commitments to teaching primary care and to provide contact with leaders in primary care education and scholarship for aspiring UCSF faculty, fellows and house-staff and students.

The invited speaker gives a Grand Rounds Lecture that aligns thematically with Rick’s passions as well as attends residents' report and meets with key GIM / SFGH faculty and fellows from SFGH and the other UCSF campuses, all at SFGH. Prior speakers have been Gordie Schiff (Cook County, now Brigham), Faith Fitzgerald (UC Davis), Jack Ende (U Penn), Clarence Braddock (Stanford), Dr. Jeffrey Samet (Boston University), Dr. Lisa Lezzoni (Harvard University), Dr. Rich Baron (President, ABIM), Dr. Doriane C Miller (U of Chicago), Dr. Monica Lypson (Columbia University), Dr. Chinazo Cunningham (NY OASAS), and Dr. Nia Mitchell (Duke University).