A few weeks before COVID-19 swept across the world, we had a chance to sit down with Dr. Arpana Vidyarthi, to capture her career story. She specializes in hospital medicine and now is on the frontline of the pandemic, making this episode especially timely. 

The focus of the interview was on how she built a career that pulls together her passions and interests in internal medicine, quality and safety, teaching, and leadership. Because the interview was done just before the pandemic began, she wasn't asked any questions about the crisis. She recently gave us an update and we share this at the end of the interview.

Meet the Guest
Dr. Arpana Vidyarthi, MD, Professor of Medicine, UCSF,  has two decades of experience as an Academic Medicine leader in the United States and Singapore with expertise in quality/safety, leadership development and education.

She is passionate about enabling individuals and organizations to transform and thrive. She is a thought leader in hospital system transformation and has operational experience in creating and implementing novel care models and programs. As a seasoned leadership development expert and executive coach, Arpana cultivates the best in individuals and empowers teams to navigate effectively through change. Her deep experience in the US and Singapore over 20 years as academic medicine leader with involvements throughout South and Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Middle East make her uniquely able to navigate across cultures. 

Arpana received her undergraduate degree from Macalester College (Ethnic Relations) and her medical degree from the University of Minnesota. She completed Residency and Chief Residency in Internal Medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance, Harvard Medical School, and a Fellowship in Hospital Medicine and Clinical Research at UCSF. She is a Diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine, with a Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine.  She holds a master’s degree in Individual and Organizational Psychology (Executive Masters in Change) from INSEAD. She is an alumnus of the Harvard Macy Program for Leaders in Healthcare Education, the California Healthcare Foundation Leadership Program, and the Global Health Leadership Forum. She has published more than 50 peer-review articles.

Links
To access articles Arpana has authored, follow these links:

• Understanding the Singapore COVID-19 Experience: Implications for Hospital Medicine
• Understanding Medical Students’ Experience with Stress and Its Related Constructs: A Focus Group Study from Singapore
• Bridging Leadership Roles in Quality and Patient Safety: Experience of 6 US Academic Medical Centers
• The impact of duty hours on resident self reports of errors

To donate to UCSF, visit: UCSF COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Response Fund