Pei Chen, MD
Associate Prof Clin Med-HCOMP
Dr. Pei Chen is an Associate Professor in the Division of Geriatrics and the Program Director for Geriatric Medicine Fellowship at UCSF.
Dr. Chen completed her residency in Internal Medicine, Primary Care Track, at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. She also completed a two-year geriatrics fellowship in the Clinician Educator Track, at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, New York, where she also served as the Chief Fellow. She has been on the faculty of the Division of Geriatrics at UCSF since 2015 and concurrently in the Division of General Internal Medicine in the San Francisco VA since 2021.
Clinical:
She is dedicated to promote successful aging and to provide person-centered care for community-dwelling older adults with complex medical conditions and geriatric syndromes, such as fall, frailty, delirium, dementia, etc. She cares for a diverse patient population and has expertise in coordination of care for her patients, including caring for patients who seek geriatric expertise from other states and abroad. Currently, she provides primary care to the veterans population in the San Francisco VA.
Education and Educational Research:
Dr. Chen is the program director for the Geriatric Medicine Fellowship. She has special interests in finding ways to improve the care to older adults through medical and interprofessional education, quality improvement initiatives, and community education.
Her commitment to undergraduate medical education included direct teaching (e.g. coach in the School of Medical) of the fundamentals of clinical care, mentoring and coaching longitudinally, curriculum development of small group sessions as well as medical student course (e.g. Life Stages, a block that covers the lifespan)
Beyond medical school education, she has built an interprofessional learning community in UCSF Center for Geriatric Care where geriatrics fellows, pharmacy residents and students, social work interns, and law students work together to provide comprehensive care for community dwelling older adults. She is also an skilled preceptors supporting the clinical training of internal medicine residents and nurse practitioner students and residents.
Her passion in education also extends to teaching geriatric concepts to community service providers (e.g. case managers, social workers), direct caregivers, and volunteers to improve the experiences of older adults as people age in place through her work in the Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program and the Optimizing Aging Collaborative.
Research:
Dr. Chen is part of the Dementia and Music Lab exploring the intersection of music and wellbeing of those living with dementia and their care partners.