Denise M. Connor, MD
Associate Clinical Professor
CLINICAL ACTIVITIES:
As a founding member of the San Francisco VA Medical Center’s Faculty Hospital Medicine Group, I attend on a range of inpatient services including the medicine ward service, a traditional teaching service, the Faculty Hospitalist Service, an attending-only service, the Co-Management Service, a consultative service for peri-operative patients, and our Swing Service, where I serve as Transfer Attending, Medicine Consult attending, and Procedure attending, while admitting new patients and supporting the on-call team. As a safety net hospital, much of our clinical care at the SFVA is focused on underserved patients.
EDUCATIONAL PURSUITS:
My interest in medical education began in my year as a chief resident, and has become the cornerstone of my career. From 2013 through 2020, I served as the Associate Program Director for PRIME, a VA-based Area of Distinction for internal medicine residents offering training in understanding the medical literature, designing clinical research, and expanding clinical skills. In this role, I developed a case-based, longitudinal clinical reasoning series, and a career series dedicated to building tools for successful academic careers.
As the theme lead for Clinical Reasoning within the Clinical Microsystem Clerkship (CMC) (launched in 2016), and Design Lead and Director for a capstone course in the School of Medicine's Bridges Curriculum, titled the Diagnostic Reasoning (DR) Block (launched in 2017), I have had the opportunity to develop a novel, longitudinal curriculum focused on building skills in clinical reasoning for early learners. I continue to hone this curriculum each year based on student and faculty feedback.
I pair my interest in clinical reasoning education with a focus on improving diversity, equity, and inclusion within medical education. In particular, I am interested in exploring how to bring an anti-oppressive lens to how we teach and practice team-based clinical reasoning, where the patient and their family are at the heart of the team. I have recently taken on the role of Director of the School of Medicine's Anti-Oppressive Curriculum (AOC), and look forward to applying an anti-oppressive lens to our entire four-year curriculum with our AOC team.
SCHOLARLY INTERESTS:
My research interests are intertwined with my focus on medical education in the realm of clinical reasoning. I am particularly interested in the intersection between communication, diversity, equity and inclusion, and clinical reasoning. Highlights of my current projects include:
• Further development and evaluation of our novel, longitudinal clinical reasoning curriculum in the school of medicine, with the goal of enhancing our understanding of successful strategies for teaching and assessing clinical reasoning in early learners
• Considering how traditional, 'cognitive' aspects of reasoning link with patient-centered communication with patients, and how we incorporate issues of diversity, equity and inclusion when we teach about and engage in clinical reasoning
As a founding member of the San Francisco VA Medical Center’s Faculty Hospital Medicine Group, I attend on a range of inpatient services including the medicine ward service, a traditional teaching service, the Faculty Hospitalist Service, an attending-only service, the Co-Management Service, a consultative service for peri-operative patients, and our Swing Service, where I serve as Transfer Attending, Medicine Consult attending, and Procedure attending, while admitting new patients and supporting the on-call team. As a safety net hospital, much of our clinical care at the SFVA is focused on underserved patients.
EDUCATIONAL PURSUITS:
My interest in medical education began in my year as a chief resident, and has become the cornerstone of my career. From 2013 through 2020, I served as the Associate Program Director for PRIME, a VA-based Area of Distinction for internal medicine residents offering training in understanding the medical literature, designing clinical research, and expanding clinical skills. In this role, I developed a case-based, longitudinal clinical reasoning series, and a career series dedicated to building tools for successful academic careers.
As the theme lead for Clinical Reasoning within the Clinical Microsystem Clerkship (CMC) (launched in 2016), and Design Lead and Director for a capstone course in the School of Medicine's Bridges Curriculum, titled the Diagnostic Reasoning (DR) Block (launched in 2017), I have had the opportunity to develop a novel, longitudinal curriculum focused on building skills in clinical reasoning for early learners. I continue to hone this curriculum each year based on student and faculty feedback.
I pair my interest in clinical reasoning education with a focus on improving diversity, equity, and inclusion within medical education. In particular, I am interested in exploring how to bring an anti-oppressive lens to how we teach and practice team-based clinical reasoning, where the patient and their family are at the heart of the team. I have recently taken on the role of Director of the School of Medicine's Anti-Oppressive Curriculum (AOC), and look forward to applying an anti-oppressive lens to our entire four-year curriculum with our AOC team.
SCHOLARLY INTERESTS:
My research interests are intertwined with my focus on medical education in the realm of clinical reasoning. I am particularly interested in the intersection between communication, diversity, equity and inclusion, and clinical reasoning. Highlights of my current projects include:
• Further development and evaluation of our novel, longitudinal clinical reasoning curriculum in the school of medicine, with the goal of enhancing our understanding of successful strategies for teaching and assessing clinical reasoning in early learners
• Considering how traditional, 'cognitive' aspects of reasoning link with patient-centered communication with patients, and how we incorporate issues of diversity, equity and inclusion when we teach about and engage in clinical reasoning