Andrew Lai, MD, MPH

Professor

Andy Lai is a Professor in the UCSF Division of Hospital Medicine, which he joined in 2009. He provides direct patient care on the medical wards at the Parnassus and Mount Zion campuses and on the Hospitalist Procedure Service, as well as supervises and teaches resident physicians and medical students. He has previously worked on the Bone Marrow Transplant and Neurosurgery Co-Management services, as well as was one of the inaugural hospitalists to work at St. Mary's Medical Center (as part of the St. Mary's-UCSF Joint Clinical programs established in 2018).

For ten years, Andy previously directed the Hospitalist Procedure Service, Division's Case Review Committee, and procedures/quality improvement rotation for internal medicine interns. He also previously directed the "Use of Ultrasound and Enhancing Confidence in Performing Bedside Procedures" session at the annual UCSF Hospitalist Mini-College CME course, as well as co-directed the Quality Improvement/Patient Safety elective for 4th year medical students for many years.

He is a member of the Division's Quality Improvement Committee and Unit-Based Leadership Team, as well as participates in many task forces. He was part of the 2018-19 Caring Wisely-awarded project team to improve IV albumin stewardship at UCSF. He frequently interviews faculty/fellowship candidates and has been a RAD (Resident Advising and Development) advisor for numerous internal medicine residents.

During medical school, Andy provided clinical care and worked on HIV-related projects in Madras, India and Eldoret, Kenya. He has provided volunteer clinical care in Port-au-Prince with Project Medishare for Haiti, as well as was part of the UCSF team of physicians and nurses who volunteered to assist colleagues at New York-Presbyterian hospitals in April/May 2020 during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Education
2018 - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training, University of California, SF
2013 - Leadership Development, UCSF Institute for Physician Leadership
Residency, 2009 - Internal Medicine (UC-Primary Care), UCSF
MD, 2006 - Medicine, Brown Medical School
MPH, 2005 - Quantitative Methods, Harvard School of Public Health
BA, 2001 - Human Biology, Urban Studies, Brown University
Honors and Awards
  • Senate Clinical Excellence Award - Nominee, UCSF Academic Senate, 2024
  • Council of Master Clinicians, UCSF Department of Medicine, 2024
  • Floyd C. Rector Award for Excellence in Teaching - Nominee, UCSF Internal Medicine Residency, 2024
  • Harry Hollander Award for Clinical Reasoning Teaching - Nominee, UCSF Internal Medicine Residency, 2024
  • Master Educator-Coach, UCSF Division of Hospital Medicine, 2023
  • Outstanding Resident Teaching Award, UCSF Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 2022
  • Floyd C. Rector Award for Excellence in Teaching, UCSF Internal Medicine Residency, 2022
  • Award of Excellence for Clinical Leadership for Physicians - Nominee, Society of Hospital Medicine, 2021
  • Excellence in Teaching Award for General Teaching, UCSF Haile T. Debas Academy of Medical Educators, 2021
  • Henry J. Kaiser Award for Excellence in Teaching: Excellence in Inpatient Care Setting - Nominee, UCSF School of Medicine, 2021
  • One of 2019's most highly rated (top 10%) peer reviewers, Journal of Hospital Medicine, 2019
  • Cross Service Collaboration for Adult Emergency Medicine and Hospital Medicine, UCSF Health, 2019
  • Exceptional Physician Award, UCSF Health, 2019
  • Great Save Award for June 2019 for the Albumin Stewardship Team, UCSF Health, 2019
  • Outstanding Achievement in Challenging the Status Quo for the Albumin Stewardship Team, UCSF Health, 2019
  • Exceptional Physician Award - Nominee, UCSF Health, 2018
  • One of 2017's most highly rated (top 10%) peer reviewers, Journal of Hospital Medicine, 2017
  • Award of Excellence for Clinical Leadership for Physicians - Nominee, Society of Hospital Medicine, 2017
  • Great Catch Award for September 2017, UCSF Patient Safety Committee, 2017
  • Clinical Teaching Excellence Award - Nominee, UCSF School of Medicine, 2017
  • AOA Honor Medical Society - Nominee, UCSF School of Medicine, 2012
  • Clinical Teaching Excellence Award, UCSF School of Medicine, 2012
  • AOA Honor Medical Society - Nominee, UCSF School of Medicine, 2011
  • Al Senft Prize [most promise as a leader in international health], Brown Medical School, 2006
  • Foreign Studies Fellowship [Eldoret, Kenya], Brown University, 2005
  • Foreign Studies Fellowship [Madras, India], Brown University, 2004
Publications
  1. Chang RS, Ow GM, Walker EJ, Brooks K, Lai AR. An Exercise in Clinical Reasoning: Use of Social Context in Diagnosing an Elevated Lactate. Journal of general internal medicine 2024. PMID: 39231848


  2. Cool JA, Lai AR, Kramer H, Baduashvili A. SIMPLE procedures: Survey of Internal Medicine Providers' Limitations and Experiences with procedures and medical procedure services. Journal of hospital medicine 2024. PMID: 38946024


  3. Expert Panel on Thoracic Imaging, Morris MF, Henry TS, Raptis CA, Amin AN, Auffermann WF, Hatten BW, Kelly AM, Lai AR, Martin MD, Sandler KL, Sirajuddin A, Surasi DS, Chung JH. ACR Appropriateness Criteria® Workup of Pleural Effusion or Pleural Disease. Journal of the American College of Radiology : JACR 2024. PMID: 38823955


  4. Expert Panels on Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Imaging, Raptis CA, Goldstein A, Henry TS, Porter KK, Catenacci D, Kelly AM, Kuzniewski CT, Lai AR, Lee E, Long JM, Martin MD, Morris MF, Sandler KL, Sirajuddin A, Surasi DS, Wallace GW, Kamel IR, Donnelly EF. ACR Appropriateness Criteria® Staging and Follow-Up of Esophageal Cancer. Journal of the American College of Radiology : JACR 2022. PMID: 36436970


  5. Expert Panel on Thoracic Imaging, Sirajuddin A, Mirmomen SM, Henry TS, Kandathil A, Kelly AM, King CS, Kuzniewski CT, Lai AR, Lee E, Martin MD, Mehta P, Morris MF, Raptis CA, Roberge EA, Sandler KL, Donnelly EF. ACR Appropriateness Criteria® Suspected Pulmonary Hypertension: 2022 Update. Journal of the American College of Radiology : JACR 2022. PMID: 36436973


  6. Isaza E, Huppert LA, Lai AR, Brondfield S. Tumor Fever Due to Metastatic Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma. 2022. PMID: 35367183


  7. Patel S, Pierce L, Jones M, Lai A, Cai M, Sharpe BA, Harrison JD. Using Participatory Design to Engage Physicians in the Development of a Provider-Level Performance Dashboard and Feedback System. 2021. PMID: 35058160


  8. Young AT, Yedidi RS, Marano PJ, Pincus LB, Lai AR. An abdominal skin lesion: to lump or split? a case presentation. Dermatology online journal 2021. PMID: 34387057


  9. Showers CR, Nuovo GJ, Lakhanpal A, Siegel CH, Aizer J, Elreda L, Halevi A, Lai AR, Erkan D, Magro CM. A Covid-19 Patient with Complement-Mediated Coagulopathy and Severe Thrombosis. Pathobiology : journal of immunopathology, molecular and cellular biology 2020. PMID: 33137805


  10. Murphy CE, Wang RC, Coralic Z, Lai AR, Raven M. Association between Methamphetamine Use and Psychiatric Hospitalization, Chemical Restraint, and Emergency Department Length of Stay. Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine 2020. PMID: 32713087


  11. Chiang JM, Lai AR, Anderson M, Rushakoff RJ. SEVERE INSULIN RESISTANCE WITH DIABETIC KETOACIDOSIS AFTER BRENTUXIMAB TREATMENT. AACE Clinical Case Reports 2020. PMID: 32524020


  12. Lai AR, Gensler LS, McQuaid K. A Terminal Event. Reply. The New England journal of medicine 2019. PMID: 31774977


  13. Anstey JE, Lai AR. Expanding the View: Implications of the SHM Position Statement on Ultrasound Use in Vascular Access. Journal of hospital medicine 2019. PMID: 31566529


  14. Lai AR, Sheu L, Gensler LS, McQuaid K, Dhaliwal G. A Terminal Event. The New England journal of medicine 2019. PMID: 31483969


  15. Narasimmaraj P, Lim HC, Beck KR, Lai AR. Geriatric 'Crohn-ic' Abdominal Pain: An Unusual Presentation of a Common Disease. The American journal of medicine 2019. PMID: 31331615


  16. Minter DJ, Kotwani P, Kohn LL, Maurer T, Lai AR. Sole-Searing Pain: Classic Kaposi's Sarcoma. The American journal of medicine 2017. PMID: 28711553


  17. Wan XC, Lai A, Kompala T, Ten R. Mimicker of hereditary angioedema: Idiopathic systemic capillary leak syndrome successfully treated with intravenous immunoglobulin. Annals of allergy, asthma & immunology : official publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology 2017. PMID: 28377172


  18. Schildhouse R, Lai A, Barsuk JH, Mourad M, Chopra V. Safe and Effective Bedside Thoracentesis: A Review of the Evidence for Practicing Clinicians. Journal of hospital medicine 2017. PMID: 28411293


  19. Zapata JA, Lai AR, Moriates C. Is Excessive Resource Utilization an Adverse Event? JAMA 2017. PMID: 28245327


  20. Jensen T, Lai A, Mourad M. Can lessons from systems-based mastery learning for thoracentesis be translated to hospitalists? Journal of hospital medicine 2016. PMID: 27687258


  21. Moriates C, Soni K, Lai A, Ranji S. The value in the evidence: teaching residents to "choose wisely". JAMA internal medicine 2013. PMID: 23358796


  22. Lai AR, Keet K, Yong CM, Diaz JV. Severe H1N1-Associated acute respiratory distress syndrome: A case series. The American journal of medicine 2010. PMID: 20193840


  23. Kumarasamy N, Venkatesh KK, Cecelia AJ, Devaleenal B, Lai AR, Saghayam S, Balakrishnan P, Yepthomi T, Poongulali S, Flanigan TP, Solomon S, Mayer KH. Spectrum of adverse events after generic HAART in southern Indian HIV-infected patients. AIDS patient care and STDs 2008. PMID: 18422462


  24. Lai AR, Tashima KT, Taylor LE. Antiretroviral medication considerations for individuals coinfected with HIV and hepatitis C virus. AIDS patient care and STDs 2006. PMID: 17052138


  25. Chiueh CC, Andoh T, Lai AR, Lai E, Krishna G. Neuroprotective strategies in Parkinson's disease: protection against progressive nigral damage induced by free radicals. Neurotoxicity research 2000. PMID: 16787846