By Nicholas Roznovsky
Noted equity advocate and emergency physician Esther K. Choo, MD, MPH, will deliver the 15th annual Dr. Evelyn Lee Visiting Scholar Lecture in Cultural Competency and Diversity on Tuesday, October 1, 2019, as part of the Department of Psychiatry’s Grand Rounds series. This year's event is sponsored by the UCSF Department of Psychiatry Diversity Committee and the UCSF Office of Diversity and Outreach.
Her presentation will focus on the need to question the traditional fundamental structures of health care organizations, and how the industry can create and promote a culture of excellence by eliminating harassment and inequity in the workforce. The lecture, which will take place in Cole Hall Auditorium on UCSF's Parnassus Heights campus, will be streamed live online beginning at 8:30 a.m. at psych.ucsf.edu/live.
Choo is an associate professor of emergency medicine at Oregon Health & Sciences University whose research has touched on substance use disorders, violence, women's health, health disparities, gender medicine, digital health, intervention development, and faculty development. She obtained her MD from Yale University, did her clinical training at Yale-New Haven Hospital and Boston Medical Center, and completed a health services research fellowship at Oregon Health & Sciences University. She has published over 65 research manuscripts on substance use disorders, health disparities, gender bias, and emergency care. She has written on health topics for Quartz.com, KevinMD, and Huffington Post.
Earlier this year, Choo became on the founding members of TIME'S UP Healthcare, an advocacy group established to support safe, fair, and dignified workplaces for women and other underrepresented groups in health care. She also serves on the executive board of FeminEM.org and Women Physicians For Humanity, and started the #DoctorsSpeakOut project capturing the opinions of physicians about federal health legislation. Choo also created the #thatsbias hashtag to advance discussions of gender bias in medicine and #codehate to raise awareness about racism in the health care setting. She is a past president of the Academy of Women in Academic Emergency Medicine, the recipient of the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine's Young Investigator Award, a member of the American Association of Women Emergency Physicians (AAWEP), and the senior associate editor for dissemination for the journal Academic Emergency Medicine.
Choo also to speak at ZSFG, Mission Bay
In addition to her Grand Rounds talk at Parnassus, Choo will take part in events at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center and the UCSF Mission Bay campus.
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