Kevin Grumbach's interest in research was spurred by outrage about what was happening in our healthcare system and the broader policy environment. "I was always really motivated as somebody who saw research as a means to shape better policies and practices," he said. 

Dr. Grumbach recalled the moment when a patient he cared for during residency at San Francisco General Hospital in the 1980s when health insurance was out of reach for many Americans. She had just been diagnosed with subacute bacterial endocarditis. 

“She was terrified not so much of being so sick but that she would lose her home if she was admitted because she had no health insurance,” said Dr. Grumbach. “Medical school had not prepared me…for what to do when this awful insurance system we have is pitting her economic goals in life against her own health needs.”

Hunter Holt pursued research after learning about the social determinants of health, witnessing how they impacted his patients, and seeing how research could be used as a tool for reducing barriers to quality care.

"In my colposcopy clinic, there were so many people that weren't showing up to their appointments that we would have no show after no show after no show," he said. "There are so many different questions that you can ask about: How do we better deliver care? How do we address these inequities that we see in cervical cancer and cancer prevention delivery?"

Michael Potter's inspiration was a desire to improve care. Dr. Potter is director of the San Francisco Bay Collaborative Research Network (SFBayCRN), a primary care practice-based research network that is supported by the UCSF Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute.

"[At FCM], I found a community of like-minded individuals focused on the health needs of our diverse underserved immigrant communities experiencing upstream social determinants of health that made it difficult for them to access the care that they needed," said Dr. Potter. "Gradually questions started to come up about various problems they were having, and I was inspired to study and understand what we can do better.”  

Anjana Sharma's interest sparked after she started a patient advisory council during her residency with Cambridge Health Alliance in Boston. "It was so amazing to partner with patients across the traditional hierarchies and really talk about: quality improvement; how our clinic was perceived; how our equity numbers are for our patients; and it was so transformative...but when I went to the research, the literature, I found nothing."

Dr. Sharma has been leading a pilot program involving patient advisors in the UCSF Family and Community Medicine residency interview and selection process. She is also involved in a community-engaged process for digital support and navigation to help bridge the digital divide and reduce racial and ethnic inequities.