Alicia Fernandez, MD

Professor

Alicia Fernandez, M.D. is Professor of Medicine at UCSF, a general internist at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, Associate Dean of Population Health and Health Equity for UCSF SOM. She is the founding Director of the UCSF Latinx Center of Excellence, a HRSA and UCSF funded initiative to increase academic diversity. Dr. Fernandez directs the Latinx and Immigrant Health Research Program at the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations, which generates actionable research to increase health equity and reduce healthcare disparities.

Dr. Fernandez’s research interests are in health care equity with a focus on the role of language, literacy and cultural barriers in cardiometabolic disease care outcomes, patient experience, and patient-clinician trust. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Russell Sage Foundation and The Greenwall Foundation. She is an editor of the Lange textbook, Medical Management of Vulnerable and Underserved Patients (Lange,2nd edition).

Dr. Fernandez’ national service includes service on the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Board of Directors, and past service on NIH and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) study sections, as well as advisory or focused committees of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, National Academy of Medicine and other national health focused organizations. She was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2024 and appointed to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in January 2025.
Education
2017 - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training, University of California
Fellowship, 1998 - Health Services Research, University of California, San Francisco
Residency, 1997 - Internal Medicine Primary Care, University of California, San Francisco
MD, 06/93 - Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
BA, 06/84 - Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale College
Honors and Awards
  • COVID Heroes Award, California Senate District 11, 2021
  • Distinguished Citizen Award, Commonwealth Club, 2021
  • Thomas N. Burbridge Award for Public Service, University of California, San Francisco, 2021
  • Annual John Benson Professionalism Article Prize, ABIM Foundation, 2020
  • Distinguished Professor of Health Equity, Society of General Internal Medicine Annual Meeting, 2020
  • Roundtable on Health Literacy, Institute of Medicine, 2014-now
  • Board of Governors, Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), 2014-now
  • Fellow, American College of Physicians, 2012
  • Arnold P. Gold Professorship Award for Humanism in Medicine, Arnold P. Gold Foundation, 2009-2012
  • Outstanding Research Paper-of-the-Year Award, Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, 2005
  • Richard J. Haber, MD Excellence in Outpatient Teaching Award, University of California, San Francisco Department of Medicine, 2004
  • Latino Health Policy Leadership Fellow, National Hispanic Medical Association, 2003
  • Early Career Research Award, Hellman/UCSF, 2001
  • Significant Improvement in Medicine for Immigrant Populations and Urban Poor, Mayoral Achievement Award, City of San Francisco, 2000
  • Kaiser Award for Excellence in Housestaff and Medical Student Teaching, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, 2000
  • Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1993
Custom Faculty Group
Core
Publications

  1. Lucy B. Schulson, Jorge A. Rodriguez, Ricardo Cruz, David Flynn, Alicia Fernandez. Patient Safety Event Risk and Language Barriers: a Scoping Review. The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety 2025. PMID:


  2. Melody Karen Schiaffino, Dominique Rash, Alicia Fernandez. A comparative analysis of patients with breast cancer with and without language barriers. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2024. PMID:


  4. Fernandez A, Chin MH. Keep Your Eyes on the Prize - Focusing on Health Care Equity. The New England journal of medicine 2024. PMID: 38738762


  5. Kaitlyn R. Julian, Ashley Mulakaluri, Nicole M. Truong, Alicia Fernandez, Robin N. Kamal, Lauren M. Shapiro. Are Orthopaedic Clinical Trials Linguistically and Culturally Diverse?. JBJS Reviews 2024. PMID:


  6. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, MAS; Alicia Fernandez, MD. JAMA Health Forum 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2022. PMID:


  7. All in the Family: A Qualitative Study of the Early Experiences of Adults with Younger-Onset Type 2 Diabetes. All in the Family: A Qualitative Study of the Early Experiences of Adults with Younger-Onset Type 2 Diabetes 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2022. PMID:


  8. Galaviz KI, Colasanti JA, Kalokhe AS, Ali MK, Ofotokun I, Fernandez A. Factors associated with adherence to guideline-recommended cardiovascular disease prevention among HIV clinicians. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2021. PMID: 34529051


  9. Eliaz A, Blair AH, Chen YH, Fernandez A, Ernst A, Mirjahangir J, Celentano J, Sachdev D, Enanoria W, Reid MJA. Evaluating the Impact of Language Concordance on Coronavirus Disease 2019 Contact Tracing Outcomes Among Spanish-Speaking Adults in San Francisco Between June and November 2020. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2021. PMID: 34993261


  10. Schwartz HEM, Matthay ZA, Menza R, Fernández A, Mackersie R, Stein DM, Bongiovanni T. Inequity in Discharge Pain Management for Trauma Patients with Limited English Proficiency. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2021. PMID: 34039923


  11. Bullock JL, O'Brien MT, Minhas PK, Fernandez A, Lupton KL, Hauer KE. No One Size Fits All: A Qualitative Study of Clerkship Medical Students' Perceptions of Ideal Supervisor Responses to Microaggressions. Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 2021. PMID: 34348373


  12. Beck AL, Huang JC, Lendzion L, Fernandez A, Martinez S. Weight Gain during the COVID-19 Pandemic in a High-Risk Cohort of Children in San Francisco, CA. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2021. PMID: 34619035


  13. Rodriguez LA, Kanaya AM, Shiboski SC, Fernandez A, Herrington D, Ding J, Bradshaw PT. Does NAFLD mediate the relationship between obesity and type 2 diabetes risk? evidence from the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis (MESA). 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2021. PMID: 34293421


  14. Salgado MV, Penko J, Fernandez A, Mejia R. Modelling the impact of plain packaging of tobacco products on cardiovascular disease in Argentina. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2021. PMID: 34261789


  15. Hemmat S, Khoong EC, Olazo K, Sharma AE, Mangurian C, Fernandez A, Sarkar U. Using incident reporting to understand and characterize sexual harassment of physicians by patients. Journal of general internal medicine 2021. PMID: 34254222


  16. Riley AR, Chen YH, Matthay EC, Glymour MM, Torres JM, Fernandez A, Bibbins-Domingo K. Excess mortality among Latino people in California during the COVID-19 pandemic. SSM - population health 2021. PMID: 34307826


  17. Rambachan A, Abe-Jones Y, Fernandez A, Shahram Y. Racial Disparities in 7-Day Readmissions from an Adult Hospital Medicine Service. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2021. PMID: 34181237


  18. Beck AL, Huang JC, Lendzion L, Fernandez A, Martinez S. Impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic on Parents' Perception of Health Behaviors in Children With Overweight and Obesity. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2021. PMID: 34023488


  19. Khoong EC, Fernandez A. Addressing Gaps in Interpreter Use: Time for Implementation Science Informed Multi-Level Interventions. Journal of general internal medicine 2021. PMID: 33948799


  20. Esaryk EE, Wesson P, Fields J, Rios-Fetchko F, Lindan C, Bern C, Fernández A. Variation in SARS-CoV-2 Infection Risk and Socioeconomic Disadvantage Among a Mayan-Latinx Population in Oakland, California. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2021. PMID: 34019089


  21. Chen YH, Glymour MM, Catalano R, Fernandez A, Nguyen T, Kushel M, Bibbins-Domingo K. Excess Mortality in California During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic, March to August 2020. JAMA internal medicine 2020. PMID: 33346804


  22. Chang A, Schwartz BS, Harleman E, Johnson M, Walter LC, Fernandez A. Guiding Academic Clinician Educators at Research-Intensive Institutions: a Framework for Chairs, Chiefs, and Mentors. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2021. PMID: 33846943


  23. Johnson MO, Fuchs JD, Sterling L, Sauceda JA, Saag MS, Fernandez A, Evans CH, Gandhi M. A mentor training workshop focused on fostering diversity engenders lasting impact on mentoring techniques: Results of a long-term evaluation. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2021. PMID: 34221458


  24. Tarn DM, Pletcher MJ, Tosqui R, Fernandez A, Tseng CH, Moriconi R, Bell DS, Barrientos M, Turner JA, Schwartz JB. Primary nonadherence to statin medications: Survey of patient perspectives. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2021. PMID: 33842201


  25. Cervantes L, Martin M, Frank MG, Farfan JF, Kearns M, Rubio LA, Tong A, Matus Gonzalez A, Camacho C, Collings A, Mundo W, Powe NR, Fernandez A. Experiences of Latinx Individuals Hospitalized for COVID-19: A Qualitative Study. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2021. PMID: 33704475


  26. Rodriguez LA, Shiboski SC, Bradshaw PT, Fernandez A, Herrington D, Ding J, Bradley RD, Kanaya AM. Predicting Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease for Adults Using Practical Clinical Measures: Evidence from the Multi-ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2021. PMID: 33501527


  27. Riley AR, Chen YH, Matthay EC, Glymour MM, Torres JM, Fernandez A, Bibbins-Domingo K. Excess death among Latino people in California during the COVID-19 pandemic. medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences 2021. PMID: 33532794


  28. Tarn DM, Barrientos M, Pletcher MJ, Cox K, Turner J, Fernandez A, Schwartz JB. Perceptions of Patients with Primary Nonadherence to Statin Medications. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2021. PMID: 33452090


  29. Lucey CR, Hauer KE, Boatright D, Fernandez A. Medical Education's Wicked Problem: Achieving Equity in Assessment for Medical Learners. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2020. PMID: 32889943


  30. Beck AL, Martinez S, Patel AI, Fernandez A. Trends in sugar-sweetened beverage consumption among California children - CORRIGENDUM. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2020. PMID: 33198836


  31. de Bourmont SS, Burra A, Nouri SS, El-Farra N, Mohottige D, Sloan C, Schaeffer S, Friedman J, Fernandez A. Resident Physician Experiences With and Responses to Biased Patients. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2020. PMID: 33226429


  32. Cardel MI, Pavela G, Janicke D, Huo T, Miller D, Lee AM, Gurka MJ, Dhurandhar E, Peters JC, Caldwell AE, Krause E, Fernandez A, Allison DB. Experimentally Manipulated Low Social Status and Food Insecurity Alter Eating Behavior Among Adolescents: A Randomized Controlled Trial. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2020. PMID: 33150744


  33. Vasquez T, Fernandez A, Haya-Fisher J, Kim S, Beck AL. A Qualitative Exploration of Barriers and Facilitators to Physical Activity Among Low-Income Latino Adolescents. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2020. PMID: 32911975


  34. Fernandez A. The Unacceptable Pace of Progress in Health Disparities Education in Residency Programs. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2020. PMID: 32777056


  35. Salgado MV, Penko J, Fernandez A, Konfino J, Coxson PG, Bibbins-Domingo K, Mejia R. Projected impact of a reduction in sugar-sweetened beverage consumption on diabetes and cardiovascular disease in Argentina: A modeling study. PLoS medicine 2020. PMID: 32722677


  36. Paul-Emile K, Critchfield JM, Wheeler M, de Bourmont S, Fernandez A. Addressing Patient Bias Toward Health Care Workers: Recommendations for Medical Centers. Annals of internal medicine 2020. PMID: 32658573


  37. Beck AL, Martinez S, Patel AI, Fernandez A. Trends in sugar-sweetened beverage consumption among California children. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2020. PMID: 32597746


  38. Luis A Rodriguez, Stephen Shiboski, Patrick Bradshaw, Alicia Fernandez, David M Herrington, Jingzhong Ding, Ryan D Bradley, Alka M Kanaya. Abstract P282: A Simple Clinical Scoring System Using Readily Available Clinical Measures for Prediction of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Evidence From the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). Circulation 2020. PMID:


  39. Glaser J, Nouri S, Fernandez A, Sudore RL, Schillinger D, Klein-Fedyshin M, Schenker Y. Interventions to Improve Patient Comprehension in Informed Consent for Medical and Surgical Procedures: An Updated Systematic Review. Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making 2020. PMID: 31948345


  40. Wheeler M, de Bourmont S, Paul-Emile K, Pfeffinger A, McMullen A, Critchfield JM, Fernandez A. Physician and Trainee Experiences With Patient Bias. JAMA internal medicine 2019. PMID: 31657839


  41. Fernandez A. Further Incorporating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Into Medical Education Research. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2019. PMID: 31365403


  42. Khoong EC, Fernandez A. Language, culture and preventable readmissions: pragmatic, intervention studies needed. BMJ quality & safety 2019. PMID: 31401549


  43. Fernandez A, Chen V, Quan J, Martinez A, Flowers L, Aronson L. Evaluation of a Medical Student Research and Career Development Program to Increase Diversity in Academic Medicine. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2019. PMID: 30998582


  44. Glaser J, Pfeffinger A, Quan J, Fernandez A. Medical Students' Perceptions of and Responses to Health Care Disparities During Clinical Clerkships. Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 2019. PMID: 30640262


  45. Schulson LB, Paasche-Orlow MK, Xuan Z, Fernandez A. Changes in Perceptions of Discrimination in Health Care in California, 2003 to 2017. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2019. PMID: 31268540


  46. Khoong EC, Fernandez A. Unsound Evaluations of Medical Machine Translation Risk Patient Health and Confidentiality-Reply. Volume 179 of Issue 7. JAMA internal medicine 2019. PMID: 31260024


  47. LUIS A. RODRIGUEZ, PATRICK T. BRADSHAW, STEPHEN SHIBOSKI, ALICIA FERNANDEZ, ERIC VITTINGHOFF, DAVID M. HERRINGTON, JINGZHONG DING, ALKA M. KANAYA. 1527-P: Race/Ethnic-Specific Association between BMI and Incident Type 2 Diabetes (T2DM): Evidence from the Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Diabetes 2019. PMID:


  48. LUIS A. RODRIGUEZ, PATRICK T. BRADSHAW, STEPHEN SHIBOSKI, ALICIA FERNANDEZ, DAVID M. HERRINGTON, JINGZHONG DING, ALKA M. KANAYA. 155-OR: Are the American Diabetes Association Screening Guidelines Appropriate for the Racial/Ethnically Diverse U.S. Population? Evidence from the Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Diabetes 2019. PMID:


  49. Rodriquez EJ, Fernández A, Livaudais-Toman JC, Pérez-Stable EJ. How Does Acculturation Influence Smoking Behavior Among Latinos? The Role of Education and National Background. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2019. PMID: 31057307


  50. Beck AL, Iturralde EM, Haya-Fisher J, Kim S, Keeton V, Fernandez A. Barriers and facilitators to healthy eating among low-income Latino adolescents. 2019. PMID: 30954634


  51. Khoong EC, Steinbrook E, Brown C, Fernandez A. Assessing the Use of Google Translate for Spanish and Chinese Translations of Emergency Department Discharge Instructions. JAMA internal medicine 2019. PMID: 30801626


  53. Whitlock EP, Selby JV, Dunham KM, Fernandez A, Forsythe LP, Norquist G. Examining the role of funders in ensuring value and reducing waste in research: An organizational case-study of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2019. PMID: 31131095


  54. Ignatius Bau, Robert A. Logan, Christopher Dezii, Bernard Rosof, Alicia Fernandez, Michael K. Paasche-Orlow, Winston W. Wong. Patient-Centered, Integrated Health Care Quality Measures Could Improve Health Literacy, Language Access, and Cultural Competence. NAM Perspectives 2019. PMID:


  55. Marpadga S, Fernandez A, Leung J, Tang A, Seligman H, Murphy EJ. Challenges and Successes with Food Resource Referrals for Food-Insecure Patients with Diabetes. 2019. PMID: 30939269


  56. Erik J. Rodriquez, Alicia Fernández, Jennifer C. Livaudais-Toman, Eliseo J. Perez-Stable. How Does Acculturation Influence Smoking Behavior Among Latinos? The Role of Education and National Background Ethnicity and Disease 2019. PMID:


  57. Salgado MV, Coxson P, Konfino J, Penko J, Irazola VE, Gutiérrez L, Fernández A, Mejía R. Update of the cardiovascular disease policy model to predict cardiovascular events in Argentina. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA) 2019. PMID: 31829945


  58. Bergallo P, Castagnari V, Fernández A, Mejía R. Regulatory initiatives to reduce sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in Latin America. PloS one 2018. PMID: 30339667


  59. Teherani A, Hauer KE, Fernandez A, King TE, Lucey C. How Small Differences in Assessed Clinical Performance Amplify to Large Differences in Grades and Awards: A Cascade With Serious Consequences for Students Underrepresented in Medicine. Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 2018. PMID: 29923892


  60. Fernandez A, Warton EM, Schillinger D, Moffet HH, Kruger J, Adler N, Karter AJ. Language barriers and LDL-C/SBP control among Latinos with diabetes. The American journal of managed care 2018. PMID: 30222919


  61. Paasche-Orlow MK, Schillinger D, Weiss BD, Bickmore T, Cabral H, Chang P, Bailey SC, Dewalt DA, Fernandez A, Fransen M, Leung A, McCaffery K, Meade CD, McCormack LA, Protheroe J, Parker R, Rothman R, Rubin D, Rudd R, Sørensen K, Von Wagner C, Wolf MS, Yin HS, Ownby RL. Health Literacy and Power. Health literacy research and practice 2018. PMID: 31294288


  62. Garcia ME, Ochoa-Frongia L, Moise N, Aguilera A, Fernandez A. Collaborative Care for Depression among Patients with Limited English Proficiency: a Systematic Review. Volume 33 of Issue 3. Journal of general internal medicine 2017. PMID: 29256085


  63. Fernandez A, Rodriguez RA. Consequences of Recent Anti-Immigration Policy-Reply. JAMA internal medicine 2017. PMID: 28973280


  64. Claudia Chaufan, Mi-Kyung “Miki” Hong, Alicia Fernandez. “Lost in Translation”: How Clinicians Make Sense of Structural Barriers to Diabetes Care among US Latinos with Limited English Proficiency. Health and Health Care Concerns Among Women and Racial and Ethnic Minorities 2017. PMID:


  65. Beck AL, Fernandez A, Rojina J, Cabana M. Randomized Controlled Trial of a Clinic-Based Intervention to Promote Healthy Beverage Consumption Among Latino Children. Volume 56 of Issue 9. 2017. PMID: 28553726


  66. Mao AY, Willard-Grace R, Dubbin L, Aronson L, Fernandez A, Burke NJ, Finch J, Davis E. Perspectives of low-income chronically ill patients on complex care management. 2017. PMID: 28447834


  67. Peek M, Lo B, Fernandez A. How Should Physicians Respond When Patients Distrust Them Because of Their Gender? AMA journal of ethics 2017. PMID: 28430566


  68. Fernández A, Rodriguez RA. Undocumented Immigrants and Access to Health Care. JAMA internal medicine 2017. PMID: 28166329


  69. Fernández A, Quan J, Moffet H, Parker MM, Schillinger D, Karter AJ. Adherence to Newly Prescribed Diabetes Medications Among Insured Latino and White Patients With Diabetes. JAMA internal medicine 2017. PMID: 28114642


  70. Parker MM, Fernández A, Moffet HH, Grant RW, Torreblanca A, Karter AJ. Association of Patient-Physician Language Concordance and Glycemic Control for Limited-English Proficiency Latinos With Type 2 Diabetes. JAMA internal medicine 2017. PMID: 28114680


  71. Konfino J, Fernandez A, Penko J, Mason A, Martinez E, Coxson P, Heller D, Moran A, Bibbins-Domingo K, Pérez-Stable EJ, Mejía R. Comparing Strategies for Lipid Lowering in Argentina: An Analysis from the CVD Policy Model-Argentina. Journal of general internal medicine 2016. PMID: 27853916


  72. Sánchez-Romero LM, Penko J, Coxson PG, Fernández A, Mason A, Moran AE, Ávila-Burgos L, Odden M, Barquera S, Bibbins-Domingo K. Projected Impact of Mexico's Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax Policy on Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease: A Modeling Study. PLoS medicine 2016. PMID: 27802278


  73. Chaufan C, Karter AJ, Moffet HH, Quan J, Parker MM, Kruger J, Schillinger D, Fernandez A. Identifying Spanish Language Competent Physicians: The Diabetes Study of Northern California (DISTANCE). 2016. PMID: 27773981


  74. Young CA, Stookey J, Patel AI, Chan C, Evans J, Cohn K, Agana L, Yen IH, Fernandez A, Cabana MD. San Francisco childcare centers' preparedness in the prevention and management of asthma among preschool-aged children. Volume 53 of Issue 7. 2016. PMID: 27164036


  75. Ngai KM, Grudzen CR, Lee R, Tong VY, Richardson LD, Fernandez A. The Association Between Limited English Proficiency and Unplanned Emergency Department Revisit Within 72 Hours. 2016. PMID: 27033142


  76. Paul-Emile K, Smith AK, Lo B, Fernández A. Dealing with Racist Patients. The New England journal of medicine 2016. PMID: 26933847


  77. Fernández A, Pérez-Stable EJ. ¿Doctor, habla español? Increasing the Supply and Quality of Language-Concordant Physicians for Spanish-Speaking Patients. Journal of general internal medicine 2015. PMID: 26209178


  78. Chaufan C, Fielding H, Chesla C, Fernandez A.. Research in the Sociology of Health Care 2015. PMID:


  79. Claudia Chaufan, Hegla Fielding, Catherine Chesla, Alicia Fernandez. “It’s Not the Doctor – It’s Me”: How Self-Blame Obscures Language and Other Structural Barriers to Diabetes Care among Low-Income Latinos with Limited English Proficiency Abstract Note Acknowledgments. Education, Social Factors, and Health Beliefs in Health and Health Care Services 2015. PMID:


  80. Young CA, Chan C, Stookey J, Patel AI, Evans J, Cohn K, Agana L, Yen IH, Fernandez A, Cabana MD. Development of a Tool to Evaluate Asthma Preparedness and Management in Child-Care Centers. Volume 28 of Issue 2. 2015. PMID: 26155370


  82. Tang AS, Kruger JF, Quan J, Fernandez A. From admission to discharge: patterns of interpreter use among resident physicians caring for hospitalized patients with limited english proficiency. Journal of health care for the poor and underserved 2014. PMID: 25418242


  83. Seligman R, Mendenhall E, Valdovinos MD, Fernandez A, Jacobs EA. Self-care and Subjectivity among Mexican Diabetes Patients in the United States. 2014. PMID: 24942832


  84. Gandhi M, Fernandez A, Stoff DM, Narahari S, Blank M, Fuchs J, Evans CH, Kahn JS, Johnson MO. Development and implementation of a workshop to enhance the effectiveness of mentors working with diverse mentees in HIV research. AIDS research and human retroviruses 2014. PMID: 24735004


  86. Naranjo DM, Jacobs EA, Fisher L, Hessler D, Fernandez A. Age and glycemic control among low-income Latinos. 2013. PMID: 22843322


  87. Hudson DL, Karter AJ, Fernandez A, Parker M, Adams AS, Schillinger D, Moffet HH, Zhou J, Adler NE. Differences in the clinical recognition of depression in diabetes patients: the Diabetes Study of Northern California (DISTANCE). The American journal of managed care 2013. PMID: 23781889


  89. Stern RJ, Fernandez A, Jacobs EA, Neilands TB, Weech-Maldonado R, Quan J, Carle A, Seligman HK. Advances in measuring culturally competent care: a confirmatory factor analysis of CAHPS-CC in a safety-net population. Medical care 2012. PMID: 22895231


  90. Slean GR, Jacobs EA, Lahiff M, Fisher L, Fernandez A. Aspects of culturally competent care are associated with less emotional burden among patients with diabetes. Medical care 2012. PMID: 22895234


  91. Fernandez A, Seligman H, Quan J, Stern RJ, Jacobs EA. Associations between aspects of culturally competent care and clinical outcomes among patients with diabetes. Medical care 2012. PMID: 22895235


  92. Seligman HK, Fernandez A, Stern RJ, Weech-Maldonado R, Quan J, Jacobs EA. Risk factors for reporting poor cultural competency among patients with diabetes in safety net clinics. Medical care 2012. PMID: 22895232


  93. Mendenhall E, Fernandez A, Adler N, Jacobs EA. Susto, coraje, and abuse: depression and beliefs about diabetes. 2012. PMID: 22539060


  94. Schenker Y, Fernandez A, Kerr K, O'Riordan D, Pantilat SZ. Interpretation for discussions about end-of-life issues: results from a National Survey of Health Care Interpreters. Journal of palliative medicine 2012. PMID: 22788909


  96. Lynch EB, Fernandez A, Lighthouse N, Mendenhall E, Jacobs E. Concepts of diabetes self-management in Mexican American and African American low-income patients with diabetes. 2012. PMID: 22641792


  97. Reuland DS, Slatt LM, Alemán MA, Fernandez A, Dewalt D. Effect of Spanish language immersion rotations on medical student Spanish fluency. 2012. PMID: 22328477


  98. Seligman HK, Jacobs EA, López A, Tschann J, Fernandez A. Food insecurity and glycemic control among low-income patients with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes care 2011. PMID: 22210570


  99. Schenker Y, Smith AK, Arnold RM, Fernandez A. "Her husband doesn't speak much English": conducting a family meeting with an interpreter. Journal of palliative medicine 2011. PMID: 22107068


  100. Vijayaraghavan M, Jacobs EA, Seligman H, Fernandez A. The association between housing instability, food insecurity, and diabetes self-efficacy in low-income adults. Journal of health care for the poor and underserved 2011. PMID: 22080709


  101. Parker MM, Moffet HH, Schillinger D, Adler N, Fernandez A, Ciechanowski P, Karter AJ. Ethnic differences in appointment-keeping and implications for the patient-centered medical home--findings from the Diabetes Study of Northern California (DISTANCE). Health services research 2011. PMID: 22091785


  102. Seligman HK, Jacobs EA, Lopez A, Sarkar U, Tschann J, Fernandez A. Food insecurity and hypoglycemia among safety net patients with diabetes. Volume 171 of Issue 13. Archives of internal medicine 2011. PMID: 21747017


  103. Moffet HH, Parker MM, Sarkar U, Schillinger D, Fernandez A, Adler NE, Adams AS, Karter AJ. Adherence to laboratory test requests by patients with diabetes: the Diabetes Study of Northern California (DISTANCE). Volume 17 of Issue 5. The American journal of managed care 2011. PMID: 21718081


  104. Guendelman S, Fernandez A, Thornton D, Brindis C. Birthplace, language use, and body size among Mexican American women and men: findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001-2006. Journal of health care for the poor and underserved 2011. PMID: 21551936


  105. Rosenthal A, Wang F, Schillinger D, Pérez Stable EJ, Fernandez A. Accuracy of physician self-report of Spanish language proficiency. 2011. PMID: 20151191


  106. Wang S, Quan J, Kanaya AM, Fernandez A. Asian Americans and obesity in California: a protective effect of biculturalism. 2011. PMID: 21153765


  107. Fernandez A, Ettinger KM, Lo B. Case 34-2010: A woman with an incorrect operation. The New England journal of medicine 2011. PMID: 21366488


  108. Hauer KE, Fernandez A, Teherani A, Boscardin CK, Saba GW. Assessment of medical students' shared decision-making in standardized patient encounters. Journal of general internal medicine 2010. PMID: 21108048


  109. Fernandez A, Schillinger D, Warton EM, Adler N, Moffet HH, Schenker Y, Salgado MV, Ahmed A, Karter AJ. Language barriers, physician-patient language concordance, and glycemic control among insured Latinos with diabetes: the Diabetes Study of Northern California (DISTANCE). Journal of general internal medicine 2010. PMID: 20878497


  110. Fernandez A. Improving the quality of informed consent: it is not all about the risks. Annals of internal medicine 2010. PMID: 20820045


  111. Hauer KE, Boscardin C, Gesundheit N, Nevins A, Srinivasan M, Fernandez A. Impact of student ethnicity and patient-centredness on communication skills performance. 2010. PMID: 20636584


  112. Prakash S, Rodriguez RA, Austin PC, Saskin R, Fernandez A, Moist LM, O'Hare AM. Racial composition of residential areas associates with access to pre-ESRD nephrology care. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology : JASN 2010. PMID: 20558541


  113. Mendenhall E, Seligman RA, Fernandez A, Jacobs EA. Speaking through diabetes: Rethinking the significance of lay discourses on diabetes. 2010. PMID: 20550094


  114. Ross PT, Wiley Cené C, Bussey-Jones J, Brown AF, Blackman D, Fernández A, Fernández L, Glick SB, Horowitz CR, Jacobs EA, Peek ME, Wilkerson L, Lypson ML. A strategy for improving health disparities education in medicine. Journal of general internal medicine 2010. PMID: 20352512


  115. Glick SB, Fernandez L, Irby DM, Harleman E, Fernandez A. Teaching about health care disparities in the clinical setting. Journal of general internal medicine 2010. PMID: 20352501


  116. Schenker Y, Fernandez A, Sudore R, Schillinger D. Interventions to improve patient comprehension in informed consent for medical and surgical procedures: a systematic review. Volume 31 of Issue 1. Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making 2010. PMID: 20357225


  117. Schenker Y, Karter AJ, Schillinger D, Warton EM, Adler NE, Moffet HH, Ahmed AT, Fernandez A. The impact of limited English proficiency and physician language concordance on reports of clinical interactions among patients with diabetes: the DISTANCE study. Patient education and counseling 2010. PMID: 20223615


  118. Fernandez A, Schenker Y. Time to establish national standards and certification for health care interpreters. Patient education and counseling 2010. PMID: 20117487


  119. Schenker Y, Fernandez A, Lo B. Placebo prescriptions are missed opportunities for doctor-patient communication. 2009. PMID: 20013500


  120. Reuland DS, Frasier PY, Olson MD, Slatt LM, Aleman MA, Fernandez A. Accuracy of self-assessed Spanish fluency in medical students. 2009. PMID: 20183357


  121. Meyers K, Tang G, Fernandez A. Responding to the Language Challenge: Kaiser Permanente's Approach. 2009. PMID: 20740094


  122. Diamond LC, Schenker Y, Curry L, Bradley EH, Fernandez A. Getting by: underuse of interpreters by resident physicians. Journal of general internal medicine 2008. PMID: 19089503


  123. Schenker Y, Lo B, Ettinger KM, Fernandez A. Navigating language barriers under difficult circumstances. Annals of internal medicine 2008. PMID: 18711157


  124. Grubbs V, Bibbins-Domingo K, Fernandez A, Chattopadhyay A, Bindman AB. Acute myocardial infarction length of stay and hospital mortality are not associated with language preference. Volume 23 of Issue 2. Journal of general internal medicine 2007. PMID: 18043984


  125. Smith WR, Betancourt JR, Wynia MK, Bussey-Jones J, Stone VE, Phillips CO, Fernandez A, Jacobs E, Bowles J. Recommendations for teaching about racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care. Annals of internal medicine 2007. PMID: 17975188


  126. Saha S, Fernandez A. Language barriers in health care. Journal of general internal medicine 2007. PMID: 17924172


  127. Saha S, Fernandez A, Perez-Stable E. Reducing language barriers and racial/ethnic disparities in health care: an investment in our future. Journal of general internal medicine 2007. PMID: 17896164


  128. Schenker Y, Wang F, Selig SJ, Ng R, Fernandez A. The impact of language barriers on documentation of informed consent at a hospital with on-site interpreter services. Journal of general internal medicine 2007. PMID: 17957414


  129. Bibbins-Domingo K, Fernandez A. BiDil for heart failure in black patients. Annals of internal medicine 2007. PMID: 17679712


  130. Fernandez A, Wang F, Braveman M, Finkas LK, Hauer KE. Impact of student ethnicity and primary childhood language on communication skill assessment in a clinical performance examination. Journal of general internal medicine 2007. PMID: 17558538


  131. Bibbins-Domingo K, Fernandez A. BiDil for heart failure in black patients: implications of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval. Annals of internal medicine 2007. PMID: 17200222


  132. Grubbs V, Chen AH, Bindman AB, Vittinghoff E, Fernandez A. Effect of awareness of language law on language access in the health care setting. Volume 21 of Issue 7. Journal of general internal medicine 2006. PMID: 16808766


  133. Saba GW, Wong ST, Schillinger D, Fernandez A, Somkin CP, Wilson CC, Grumbach K. Shared decision making and the experience of partnership in primary care. Annals of family medicine 2006. PMID: 16449397


  134. Wilson E, Chen AH, Grumbach K, Wang F, Fernandez A. Effects of limited English proficiency and physician language on health care comprehension. Journal of general internal medicine 2005. PMID: 16117746


  135. Bodenheimer T, Fernandez A. High and rising health care costs. Part 4: can costs be controlled while preserving quality? Annals of internal medicine 2005. PMID: 15998752


  136. Pletcher MJ, Fernandez A, May TA, Westphal JR, Gamez CA, Hersh DF, Gonzales R. Unintended consequences of a quality improvement program designed to improve treatment of alcohol withdrawal in hospitalized patients. Joint Commission journal on quality and patient safety 2005. PMID: 15828598


  137. Fernandez A, Goldstein L. Primary care physicians who treat blacks and whites. The New England journal of medicine 2004. PMID: 15543658


  138. Fernandez A, Schillinger D, Grumbach K, Rosenthal A, Stewart AL, Wang F, Pérez-Stable EJ. Physician language ability and cultural competence. An exploratory study of communication with Spanish-speaking patients. Journal of general internal medicine 2004. PMID: 15009796


  139. Pontecorvo C, Mejía R, Aleman M, Vidal A, Majdalani MP, Fayanás R, Fernández A, Pérez Stable EJ. [Detection of domestic violence against women. Survey in a primary health care clinic]. Medicina 2004. PMID: 15637825


  140. Pignone M, Phillips CJ, Elasy TA, Fernandez A. Physicians' ability to predict the risk of coronary heart disease. BMC health services research 2003. PMID: 12857356


  141. Majdalani M, Mejia R, Fayanas R, Fernandez A, Perez-Stable EJ. Educacion Medica 2003. PMID:


  142. Fernandez A, Grumbach K, Vranizan K, Osmond DH, Bindman AB. Primary care physicians' experience with disease management programs. Journal of general internal medicine 2001. PMID: 11318911


  143. Fernandez A, Grumbach K, Goitein L, Vranizan K, Osmond DH, Bindman AB. Friend or foe? How primary care physicians perceive hospitalists. Archives of internal medicine 2000. PMID: 11041896


  144. Schillinger D, Wheeler M, Fernandez A. The populations and quality improvement seminar for medical residents. Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 2000. PMID: 10824850


  145. Mejia R, Aleman M, Férnandez A, Pérez Stable EJ. [Awareness and detection of domestic violence by clinical physicians]. Medicina 2000. PMID: 11188898


  146. Fernandez A and Goldschlager N. Heart Failure 1997. PMID: