Descartes Li, MD
Professor
Psychiatry
School of Medicine

I am blessed to be a clinician-educator at UCSF. I enjoy the opportunities for direct teaching as well as coordinating activities with my faculty colleagues. My areas of interest include bipolar disorder, depression, electroconvulsive therapy, medical student education, cultural psychiatry, and suicide. I give numerous talks and presentations in both academic and community settings.

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My primary roles include the following: 1) Vice Chair for Education, UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences 2) Director, UCSF Bipolar Disorder Program 3) Director, UCSF Electroconvulsive Therapy Service 4) Co-Director, Brain, Movement, and Behavior (Foundational Science course)

My educational motto is "Forget teaching, remember learning."

Mailing and office address: 401 Parnassus Avenue San Francisco, CA 94143-0984

Education & Training

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• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training University of California 2017
• Residency School of Medicine University of California, San Francisco 1997
• M.D. School of Medicine University of California, San Francisco 1993

Interests

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• Medical education
• Suicide
• Electroconvulsive Therapy
• Faculty Development
• Education and educational scholarship
• Bipolar Disorder

Websites

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• Clinical Profile at UCSF Medical Center (ucsfhealth.org)

Publications (11)

Top publication keywords:
AnesthesiaAwarenessElectroconvulsive TherapyMental RecallSeverity of Illness IndexAntipsychotic AgentsAntidepressive AgentsPsychiatryProfessionalismInternship and ResidencyEducation, MedicalDepressive DisorderCurriculumBipolar DisorderStudents, Medical

• Comment on "The Vital Importance of Professionalism in Medical Education".
  Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry 2023 Li D, Poncelet A
• Perspectives on Clinical Reasoning in Psychiatry in a Small Academic and Community-Based Residency Program.
  Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry 2023 Collins AR, Lee K, Li D
• Preclinical Curricular Changes to Address Sustainable Healthcare Education in Psychiatry.
  Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry 2022 Cooper R, Li D
• Preserved Cochlear Implant Function After Multiple Electroconvulsive Therapy Treatments.
  The Laryngoscope 2020 Jiam NT, Li D, Kramer K, Limb CJ
• Teaching Systems Improvement to Early Medical Students: Strategies and Lessons Learned.
  Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 2020 Harbell MW, Li D, Boscardin C, Pierluissi E, Hauer KE

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• Recurrent Klazomania Responsive to Acute Plus Maintenance Electroconvulsive Therapy.
  The journal of ECT 2019 Bourgeois JA, Li D, Hategan A
• Does recent mania affect response to antidepressants in bipolar disorder? A re-analysis of STEP-BD data.
  Journal of affective disorders 2018 Mousavi Z, Johnson S, Li D
• Treating insomnia improves mood state, sleep, and functioning in bipolar disorder: a pilot randomized controlled trial.
  Journal of consulting and clinical psychology 2015 Harvey AG, Soehner AM, Kaplan KA, Hein K, Lee J, Kanady J, Li D, Rabe-Hesketh S, Ketter TA, Neylan TC, Buysse DJ
• The electroconvulsive therapy and anesthesia exercise (ECTAE): the creation of an interdisciplinary learning activity for medical students.
  The journal of ECT 2013 Li D, Hall SE, Tong LD, Rollins MD
• Pilot randomized trial of a cross-diagnosis collaborative care program for patients with mood disorders.
  Depression and anxiety 2012 Kilbourne AM, Li D, Lai Z, Waxmonsky J, Ketter T
• Awareness without recall during anesthesia for electroconvulsive therapy.
  Anesthesiology 2007 Litt L, Li D