The Center for Faculty Educators presents this Medical Education Grand Rounds with Sarah Aitken, MD, PhD. Drawing on her experiences in Indigenous healthcare, she will speak on Professional Identity Development of Individuals with Atypical Backgrounds and/or Career Paths in Medicine: Roles of Faculty and Systems. By the end of the session, participants will be able to: Describe the challenges facing learners under-represented in medicine and those taking alternative pathways to completing their medical training. Indicate opportunities for faculty and systems to facilitate these individuals in the growth of their identities as physicians.

About the Presenter

Sarah Aitken, MBBS (Hons), FRACS (Vascular), FACS, FHEA, Ph.D., is the 2024-25 Australian Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice. She is the Head of Surgery at the University of Sydney, Chair of Vascular Training for the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, and Vascular Surgeon at Concord Repatriation General Hospital. Her education and health service leadership roles have been highly influential in promoting diversity and equity across multiple domains, from surgical workforce, the care of patients, and across health systems and policies. Her clinical research into collaborative models of care and age-related bias, have resulted in innovative new approaches to older patients having surgery, translated into national and international surgical guidelines and health policies. She uses a range of methodologies to explore the role of gender and intersectionality on surgical outcomes, engaging with multiple organisations to support equitable perioperative care practice and policies. She has been awarded over $3 million in research funding, >70 publications in the past 5 years, and is recognised as an international influence in surgical research and education.

Her Harkness research project will investigate how North American medical schools and residency programs recruit, retain, and support a diverse surgical workforce. Using case-comparative analysis, it will examine how exemplar surgical programs are practically navigating the current DEI landscape, and the role played by factors like institutional culture, leadership, program design, and legislation. Qualitative analysis of interviews with surgical leadership—including DEI officers and program directors—will reveal how DEI policies are tailored to local contexts. The study aims to bridge knowledge gaps by providing a nuanced understanding of effective DEI strategies in surgical education and workforce planning.

About Medical Education Grand Rounds at the Center for Faculty Educators (CFE): At these hour-long sessions, participants hear about recent research in health professions education. Presenters may include advanced learners studying in CFE’s master’s and doctoral programs, UCSF faculty who conduct education research, and invited speakers who contribute outside perspectives to advance the scholarly study of health professions education. The Master's Program in Education is a collaboration between UCSF and the University of California, Berkeley School of Education. The program prepares individuals in the research methodologies needed to undertake research studies in health professions education. Students receive mentoring from faculty in the UC Berkeley, Berkeley School of Education and faculty in the UCSF Center for Faculty Educators. UCSF collaborates with University Medical Center Utrecht (UMC Utrecht) to offer the Doctoral Program in Health Professions Education. This collaboration makes possible a rigorous program for scholarly advancement for medical education researchers. Successful candidates graduate with a PhD in Health Professions Education from UMC Utrecht.

UCSF is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. UCSF designates this live activity for a maximum of 50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. The above credit is inclusive of all UCSF Educational Skills Workshops and the Teaching Scholars Program. Credit available for this event only is 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.

For the purpose of recertification, the American Nurses Credentialing Center accepts AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ issued by organizations accredited by the ACCME. The California Board of Pharmacy accepts as continuing professional education those courses that meet the standard of relevance to pharmacy practice and have been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. UCSF Educational Skills Workshops and Med Ed Grand Rounds have been approved by UCSF Rehabilitative Services for up to 7 continuing education hours per year total. Questions regarding this approval should be directed to (415) 514-6779. Psychology: This educational activity is recognized by the California Board of Psychology as meeting the continuing education requirements toward license renewal for California psychologists. Psychologists are responsible for reporting their own attendance to the California Board of Psychology. Psychologists from other states should check with their respective licensing boards. Course No. MGR25075.