Dr. Margot Kushel describes her emphatic efforts to help a homeless patient whose needs outweigh a hospital’s offerings. Listen below or stream the official podcast!
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Dr. Margot Kushel is a Professor of Medicine at UCSF in the Division of General Internal Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital. Margot’s research interests include the health and health care utilization patterns of homeless adults and other vulnerable populations. She is Principal Investigator of an NIA funded study that is following a cohort of 350 older homeless adults in Oakland CA to assess how life events have impacted their homelessness, their health status (including geriatric conditions) and their use of the health care system. In the near future, Margot plans to expand this research to include studying symptomatology and views about advanced directives, and on examining novel ways of finding stable housing for older homeless adults. Margot is also conducting evaluations of new efforts to provide permanent supportive housing to individuals experiencing chronic homelessness and studies of how pain is managed for individuals with substance use disorders who receive care in safety net settings. At UCSF, Margot is the co-Director of the UCSF Primary Care Research Fellowship and is involved in numerous training activities geared towards training the next generation of implementation scientists who focus on improving care in the safety net. She maintains an active clinical practice as a general internist at the SFGH General Medical Clinic and attends on the inpatient medicine service at SFGH. When not at work (or driving back and forth across the Bay Bridge), Margot can be found reading, swimming, or laughing with her husband and their 13 year old twins. You can follow her on twitter at @mkushel.