Dr. Alicia Fernandez is the recipient of the John F. Murray, MD Award

Congratulations to Dr. Alicia Fernandez!

Dr. Alicia Fernandez is the recipient of the John F. Murray, MD Award!

In 2003, the ZSFG Medical Services established this award to recognize a member of our faculty who demonstrates excellence in academic medicine and dedication to the humanitarian mission of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital & Trauma Center. 

The ZSFG Medicine Education Committee solicits nominations from ZSFG-based Medicine faculty and all Medicine residents for candidates whom they feel exemplify these qualities. The Committee would like to share the comments received from faculty and residents who nominated and voted for Dr. Fernandez:

Alicia has been nominated for this award every year since the award was created. She has been at the vanguard of advancing the social mission of our hospital and institution—from studying disparities in health care to racism toward providers, working on mentoring URM students and faculty, creating a pipeline for URM students and now, founding a Latinx Center of Excellence at UCSF. In addition, Alicia is one of our most stellar teachers and an outstanding clinician and patient advocate. She has aced the "triple threat" of academic medicine and is a physician who leads and inspires all she works with.

Dr. Fernandez has dedicated to the mission of the hospital through her research, her teaching and her clinical care for her entire career. Her research centers around issues of disparities as does her teaching. She is clear-sighted and often brings a fresh perspective and courageous voice to difficult issues that is compassionate and astute and encourages equity in the care we deliver, both directly and as an institution.

Dr. Fernandez has a long history of clinical care, research and teaching about the care of the underserved. Since her days as a resident, she has been a clear-sighted patient advocate and someone who has been able to frame many of the issues that arise in the care of the underserved in ways that have helped generations of students, residents and her colleagues gain deeper insights into how to deliver the highest standard, compassionate, patient-centered medical care to patients for whom many barriers to this care exist. Her passion for these issues is exhibited in ways both small and big. Whether it is her care with patients and teaching; expert interviewing of patients and leading students and residents greater understanding and nuance of the art of being a doctor; to lecturing on disparities; creating programs to encourage and support medical students from under-represented backgrounds; or her research on the care of patients who do not speak English; her publications on everything from caring for the racist patient to diabetes care; and her unwavering integrity and generosity in all that she does, Alicia Fernandez, is a role model of an exemplary doctor. She has mentored countless students, residents, fellows and colleagues. She has brought her passionate sense of social justice in medicine to local, national and international audiences. I would also like to add that she has been nominated by many different people over the years—indeed has been nominated almost every year since the inception of this award. It’s about time she gets it.

The 2019 ZSFG Medicine Faculty Awards will be presented on Tuesday, May 21, at 1 pm in Carr Auditorium following Medicine Grand Rounds.