Denise Davis, MD

Professor of Clinical Medicine

I serve as an Associate Director for Faculty Development in the Center of Excellence in Primary Care Education at the San Francisco VA where I teach workshops on health professions education including feedback conversations, mentoring, establishing a positive learning climate, clinical and teamwork communication.

My local and national education practice includes teaching and coaching health professions students, trainees, clinicians and educators in communication skills that increase quality, safety and improve patient experience. Additionally, I facilitate many team and departmental retreats that are interactive, engaging and community building.

Major presentations include:
"Navigating the Storm: Anger in Clinical Encounters"
"Being Seen, Heard and Respected in Dental Education"
"Culture Change: Feedback"
"Feedback and Professional Identity Formation"
"Reimaging Communication as a Procedure in Orthopedic Surgery"

Education
2017 - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training, University of California
Faculty Development Training, 2010 - , American Academy on Communication in Healthcare
Residency, 1989 - Internal Medicine, Kaiser Foundation Hospital San Francisco
Internship, 1982 - internal medicine, Kansas University Medical Center
BA/MD, 1981 - School of Medicine, University of Missouri-Kansas City six year combined BA/MD program
Honors and Awards
  • Excellence in Teaching Award, Academy on Communication in Healthcare, 2021
  • Family and Community Medicine Excellence in Student Teaching Award, UCSF, 2021
  • Family and Community Medicine Excellence in Student Teaching Award, UCSF, 2020
  • Martlin Luther King Leadership Award, UCSF, 2018
  • Gold Headed Cane Society, UCSF, 2017
  • VA Superstar Award, San Francisco VA, 2014
  • Academy of Medical Educators Excellence in Teaching Award, UCSF, 2013
  • Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 2013
  • Consumer Checkbook Top Doctor, 2008
  • Extraordinaire Award, African American Museum and Library, Oakland, CA, 2007
  • Henry J. Kaiser Award for Excellence in Teaching, UCSF, 2005
Publications
  1. Moore KA, Ureste P, Davis DL, Boscardin C, Thomas LR. Peer Support Ambassadors: A Program to Advance a Supportive and Inclusive Clinical Learning Environment. Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 2024. PMID: 39265093


  2. Perez-Urbano I, Jowhar ZM, Williams JC, Collins SA, Davis D, Boscardin CK, Cowell T, Benton E, Hauer KE. Student, Staff and Faculty Experience with a Medical School Racial and Sociopolitical Trauma Protocol: A Mixed Methods Study. Teaching and learning in medicine 2024. PMID: 38847650


  3. Greenberg AL, Cevallos JR, Ojute FM, Davis DL, Greene WR, Lebares CC. The General Surgery Residency Experience: A Multicenter Study of Differences in Wellbeing by Race/Ethnicity. Annals of surgery open : perspectives of surgical history, education, and clinical approaches 2022. PMID: 37601153


  4. Afolabi T, Borowsky HM, Cordero DM, Paul DW, Said JT, Sandoval RS, Davis D, Ölveczky D, Chatterjee A. Student-Led Efforts to Advance Anti-Racist Medical Education. Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 2021. PMID: 33711839


  5. Davis DLF, Tran-Taylor D, Imbert E, Wong JO, Chou CL. Start the Way You Want to Finish: An Intensive Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Orientation Curriculum in Undergraduate Medical Education. Journal of medical education and curricular development 2021. PMID: 33796793


  6. Davis DL. Dare to Look. Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 2020. PMID: 32675792


  7. Cordero DM, Davis DL. Communication for Equity in the Service of Patient Experience: Health Justice and the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Patient Experience 2020. PMID: 32821779


  8. Rubinelli S, Myers K, Rosenbaum M, Davis D. Implications of the current COVID-19 pandemic for communication in healthcare. Patient education and counseling 2020. PMID: 32451002


  9. Davis DLF, Chou CL. The Bearable Lightness of Uncertainty. Journal of general internal medicine 2019. PMID: 31512186


  10. Wheeler DJ, Zapata J, Davis D, Chou C. Twelve tips for responding to microaggressions and overt discrimination: When the patient offends the learner. Medical teacher 2018. PMID: 30277121


  11. Denise L. Davis. Communication Rx Culture and Diversity Chapter 14 2017. PMID:


  12. Calvin Chou, Adina Kalet. Remediation in Medical Education Chapter 15 "Feedback in Remediation" 2013. PMID:


  13. Bergstrom AR, Nur F, Davis DL. Consider the personhood of women who experienced genital cutting. Mayo Clinic proceedings 2013. PMID: 24079688


  14. Denise L. Davis. Simple But Not Always Easy: Improving Doctor -Patient Communication Journal of Communication In Healthcare 2010. PMID: