Sarah Schaeffer, MD, MPH

Associate Professor

Sarah Alba-Nguyen is an Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency and the Director of GME Diversity for the Department of Medicine. She divides her time between clinical, educational, and administrative roles.

Clinically, Sarah works as a hospitalist where she attends on the Medicine Teaching Service, Goldman Medicine Service, and both Parnassus and Mission Bay Medicine Consult Services. In her graduate medical education roles, Sarah has led a robust efforts in the residency program to enhance the recruitment, retention, and mentorship of trainees from diverse backgrounds. She is passionate about equity and inclusion in medicine, and conducts seminars for trainees and faculty on topics of unconscious bias, microaggressions, stereotype threat, and mentoring across differences. In 2018, Sarah joined Dr. Alicia Fernandez as a core faculty members in the UCSF Latinx Center of Excellence (LCOE). Within the LCOE, Sarah co-leads academic career development and mentorship programs for Latinx and UIM medical student and residents at UCSF.
Education
2017 - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training, University of California
M.D., - , New York University School of Medicine
Chief Residency, - Internal Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
Residency, - Internal Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
Publications
  1. Huppert LA, Santhosh L, Alba-Nguyen S, Lai CJ, Babik JM. Changes in Gender and Racial/Ethnic Diversity in US Residency Program Applications From 2018 to 2022. Journal of graduate medical education. 2024. PMID: 38304603


  2. Klein R, Snyder ED, Koch J, Volerman A, Alba-Nguyen S, Julian KA, Thompson V, Ufere NN, Burnett-Bowie SM, Kumar A, White BAA, Park YS, Palamara K. Correction: Exploring gender and thematic differences in qualitative assessments of internal medicine resident performance. BMC medical education. 2024. PMID: 38273350


  3. Klein R, Snyder ED, Koch J, Volerman A, Alba-Nguyen S, Julian KA, Thompson V, Ufere NN, Burnett-Bowie SM, Kumar A, White BAA, Park YS, Palamara K. Analysis of narrative assessments of internal medicine resident performance: are there differences associated with gender or race and ethnicity? BMC medical education. 2024. PMID: 38233807


  4. Klein R, Snyder ED, Koch J, Volerman A, Alba-Nguyen S, Julian KA, Thompson V, Ufere NN, Burnett-Bowie SM, Kumar A, White BAA, Park YS, Palamara K. Exploring gender and thematic differences in qualitative assessments of internal medicine resident performance. BMC medical education. 2023. PMID: 38066551


  5. Connor DM, Fernandez A, Alba-Nguyen S, Collins S, Teherani A. Academic Leadership Academy Summer Program: Clerkship Transition Preparation for Underrepresented in Medicine Medical Students. Teaching and learning in medicine. 2023. PMID: 37886897


  6. Klein R, Koch J, Snyder ED, Volerman A, Simon W, Jassal SK, Cosco D, Cioletti A, Ufere NN, Burnett-Bowie SM, Palamara K, Schaeffer S, Julian KA, Thompson V. Association of Gender and Race/Ethnicity with Internal Medicine In-Training Examination Performance in Graduate Medical Education. Journal of general internal medicine. 2022. PMID: 35710653


  7. Klein R, Ufere NN, Schaeffer S, Julian KA, Rao SR, Koch J, Volerman A, Snyder ED, Thompson V, Ganguli I, Burnett-Bowie SM, Palamara K. Association Between Resident Race and Ethnicity and Clinical Performance Assessment Scores in Graduate Medical Education. Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges. 2022. PMID: 35583954


  8. Marbin J, Hutchinson YV, Schaeffer S. Avoiding the Virtual Pitfall: Identifying and Mitigating Biases in Graduate Medical Education Videoconference Interviews. Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges. 2021. PMID: 33464743


  9. 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. JAMA network open. 2020. PMID: 33226429


  10. Klein R, Ufere NN, Rao SR, Koch J, Volerman A, Snyder ED, Schaeffer S, Thompson V, Warner AS, Julian KA, Palamara K. Association of Gender With Learner Assessment in Graduate Medical Education. JAMA network open. 2020. PMID: 32672831


  11. Klein R, Julian KA, Snyder ED, Koch J, Ufere NN, Volerman A, Vandenberg AE, Schaeffer S, Palamara K. Gender Bias in Resident Assessment in Graduate Medical Education: Review of the Literature. Journal of general internal medicine. 2019. PMID: 30993611


  12. Chien JD, Furtado A, Cheng SC, Lam J, Schaeffer S, Chun K, Wintermark M. Demographics of carotid atherosclerotic plaque features imaged by computed tomography. Journal of neuroradiology = Journal de neuroradiologie. 2013. PMID: 23428245


  13. Nair N, Marciscano AE, Vivar KL, Schaeffer S, LaMont E, Francois F. Introduction to the medical professions through an innovative medical student-run pipeline program. Journal of the National Medical Association. 2011. PMID: 22364050


  14. Adraktas DD, Brasic N, Furtado AD, Cheng SC, Ordovas K, Chun K, Chien JD, Schaeffer S, Wintermark M. Carotid atherosclerosis does not predict coronary, vertebral, or aortic atherosclerosis in patients with acute stroke symptoms. Stroke. 2010. PMID: 20595672


  15. Furtado AD, Adraktas DD, Brasic N, Cheng SC, Ordovas K, Smith WS, Lewin MR, Chun K, Chien JD, Schaeffer S, Wintermark M. The triple rule-out for acute ischemic stroke: imaging the brain, carotid arteries, aorta, and heart. AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology. 2010. PMID: 20360341


  16. Furtado AD, Smith WS, Koroshetz W, Dillon WP, Furie KL, Lev MH, Vittinghoff E, Schaeffer S, Biagini T, Hazarika O, Wintermark M. Perfusion CT Imaging Follows Clinical Severity in Left Hemispheric Strokes. European neurology. 2008. PMID: 18756089


  17. Wintermark M, Jawadi SS, Rapp JH, Tihan T, Tong E, Glidden DV, Abedin S, Schaeffer S, Acevedo-Bolton G, Boudignon B, Orwoll B, Pan X, Saloner D. High-resolution CT imaging of carotid artery atherosclerotic plaques. AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology. 2008. PMID: 18272562


  18. Smith LM, Elkins JS, Dillon WP, Schaeffer S, Wintermark M. Perfusion-CT assessment of the cerebrovascular reserve: a revisit to the acetazolamide challenges. Journal of neuroradiology = Journal de neuroradiologie. 2008. PMID: 18242708


  19. Wintermark M, Glastonbury C, Tong E, Lau BC, Schaeffer S, Chien JD, Haar PJ, Saloner D. Semi-automated computer assessment of the degree of carotid artery stenosis compares favorably to visual evaluation. Journal of the neurological sciences. 2008. PMID: 18234230