Dr. Jennifer Karlin has joined the Department of Family and Community Medicine as an Associate Professor. She will work primarily with the National Clinician Consultation Center (NCCC) on an exciting demonstration project to advance access to comprehensive reproductive health.
Jennifer is a full-scope family physician with fellowship training in family planning and clinical medical ethics. She was most recently a research faculty member at UC Davis, where she served as the Associate Director of Premedical Education. Prior to UC Davis, Jennifer did her residency and Fellowship in Family Planning at FCM and completed her medical and graduate school training at the University of Chicago.
Her expertise and mixed-methods research are grounded in anthropological, historical, and conceptual studies of science and medicine. Examining how health care can be delivered in person-centered and ethically informed ways, Jennifer’s research aims to find ways to empower people through their healthcare experiences, in reproductive health and beyond.
Jennifer now returns to UCSF to lead the development of the Repro Health Hotline (ReproHH), which will be a nationwide, confidential hotline for U.S.-based clinicians on sexual and reproductive health. Launching in March 2025, ReproHH will offer evidence-based information on medical standards of care to any U.S.-affiliated health care provider seeking support on these topics. The initiative builds on a model established at the NCCC during the early HIV epidemic by Jennifer’s mentor Dr. Ron Goldschmidt.
In addition to her work at the NCCC, Jennifer will continue her research on topics that include self-injection of contraceptives, person-centered contraceptive counseling, reproductive health, and physician professional identity formation. Jennifer is in an advisory role as the medical supervisor for the California Family PACT Program, is a contract physician and clinical supervisor for Planned Parenthood NorCal, and precepts FCM residents at the Family Health Center. Outside of UCSF, she serves as an associate editor for Annals of Family Medicine and serves on the Grantee Clinical Leadership Advisory Council (GCLAC) for the Clinical Training Center for Sexual and Reproductive Health (CTC-SRH).
Jennifer's most recent publications include:
When I say … haunted curriculum - Ansari DA, Jain NR, Tucker CR, Karlin J. When I say … haunted curriculum. Med Educ. 2024; 1-2. doi:10.1111/medu.15537
A Scoping Review of Patient-Centered Perinatal Contraceptive Counseling. Karlin J, Newmark RL, Oberman N, Dehlendorf C. A Scoping Review of Patient-Centered Perinatal Contraceptive Counseling. Matern Child Health J. 2024 Sep;28(9):1454-1484. doi: 10.1007/s10995-024-03946-y. Epub 2024 Aug 1. PMID: 39088140; PMCID: PMC11358302.
Patient experiences switching from in-clinic to self-administration of injectable contraception in two Western US states. Newmark RL, Hodge CC, Shih G, Karlin J. Patient experiences switching from in-clinic to self-administration of injectable contraception in two Western US states. Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2024 Jul 4. doi: 10.1111/psrh.12278. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38965382.
Chapter 1 of Reimagining Medical Education: The Future of Health Equity and Social Justice, part of the American Medical Association’s MedEd Innovation Series titled 'Medicine and Medical Education Otherwise: Speculative Futures of the Healing Professions" - by Jennifer Karlin, Vanessa Grubbs, BobbieJean Sweitzer, and Christoph Hanssmann - out Nov. 6