Brian Block, MD
HS Asst Clinical Professor
Brian Block is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, the Director of the Critical Care Services for the Pulmonary Division at UCSF Health, and the Assistant Program Director for Critical Care Medicine within the Pulmonary Fellowship.
Dr. Block has focused on developing expertise in clinical care and teaching, with broad interests in outpatient pulmonology, intensive care medicine, and triaging patients with critical illness. These clinical endeavors all stem from his interests in diagnostic reasoning, medical ethics, communication, and understanding how patients and families make decisions, especially during critical illness. He is a member of the UCSF Health Medical Ethics Committee.
Dr Block teaches students, residents and fellows in his clinical work, leads the UCSF course on Mechanical Ventilation, teaches in a twice-yearly course on critical care ultrasound, and gives lectures and leads small groups in several medical school courses.
In his role as Director of Critical Care Services for the Division of Pulmonology at UCSF Health, he works with leaders across departments and campuses to meet the growing demands for clinical work at UCSF health, while also working to support the academic mission of the division.
Dr. Block graduated from Harvard Medical School, completed Internal Medicine training at Columbia University, and was also a Chief Medical Resident at Columbia. He then came to UCSF to complete fellowship training in Pulmonary and Critical Care medicine. During his research fellowship, he studied advance care planning among patients with critical illness. He has published several dozen articles including primary research, case report, and thought pieces in journals including Annals of Internal Medicine, JAMA Internal Medicine, and the New England Journal of Medicine, among others.