Louise Aronson, MD
Professor
Medicine
School of Medicine

415-502-1000 ext. 14595

Louise Aronson, MD MFA, is a leading geriatrician, writer, educator, professor of medicine at UCSF and the author of the New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize finalist Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, and Reimagining Life.

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A graduate of Harvard Medical School, Dr. Aronson has received the Gold Professorship in Humanism in Medicine, the California Homecare Physician of the Year award, and the American Geriatrics Society Clinician-Teacher of the Year award. Her current work is focused on expanding geriatric care and public perceptions of old age to more accurately attend to the decades and diversity of elderhood, developing innovative programs and practices to empower older adults to retain agency and maximize wellness as they age. At UCSF, Louise has served as director of the Pathways to Discovery program, the Northern California Geriatrics Education Center, the Optimizing Aging Project, and as Chief of Geriatrics Education. Her writing credits include the New York Times, Atlantic, Washington Post, Discover, Vox, JAMA, Lancet, and the New England Journal of Medicine, and she has been featured on TODAY, CBS This Morning, NPR’s Fresh Air, Morning Edition, Politico, Kaiser Health News, Tech Nation and the New Yorker. Currently, Dr. Aronson divides her time among patient care, community-based aging innovations, teaching, health advocacy in the media, and writing.

Awards

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  • Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, 2023-2024
  • Distinguished Ambassador of Aging, Aging Life Care Association, 2023
  • Impact Award, At Home with Growing Older, 2022
  • Trailblazer Award, Chicago Village, 2020
  • Pulitzer Prize finalist, General Nonfiction, Pulitzer Prizes, 2020
  • Bonner Book Award, Wayne State University, 2020
  • 2019 Influencer in Aging, Next Avenue, 2019
  • Humanism in Aging Leadership Award, UNECOM, 2019
  • Fellowship Award, MacDowell Colony, 2017
  • Jordan J Cohen lecture, Association of American Medical Colleges, 2016
  • National Honor Medical Society, Alpha Omega Alpha, 2014
  • Outstanding Mid-Career Clinical Teacher, American Geriatrics Society, 2014
  • Gold Professorship for Humanism in Medicine, Arnold P. Gold Foundation, 2013
  • Lieberman Scholar Award, UCSF Division of Geriatrics, 2012-2014
  • Edward D. Harris Professionalism Award, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, 2010-2011
  • Writer's Award, Hedgebrook Foundation, 2010-2011
  • Cooke Award for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, UCSF Academy of Medical Educators, 2010-2011
  • Writer's Award, Ragdale Foundation, 2009-2010
  • Membership, UCSF Academy of Medical Educators, 2009-2010
  • Teaching Award, UCSF Academy of Medical Educators, 2009-2010
  • Mentor Award, UCSF Pathways to Discovery, 2009-2010
  • Poster Award, Western Group on Educational Affairs, 2009-2010
  • Medical Education Research Fellowship, UCSF, 2008-2010
  • Geriatric Academic Career Award, Bureau of Health Professions, 2007-2010
  • Story Prize, Sonora Review, 2007-2008
  • Teaching Scholar, UCSF, 2007-2008
  • Short Fiction Award, New Millennium Writings, 2006-2007
  • Writer's Award, UCross Foundation, 2006-2007
  • Geriatrics Faculty Scholar, Northern California Geriatrics Education Center, 2005-2006
  • Physician of the Year Award, California Association for Health Services at Home, 1997-1998

Education & Training

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  • Fellowship Integrative Medicine University of Arizona 2020
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training University of California 2018
  • MFA Creative Writing Warren Wilson Program for Writers 2006
  • Fellowship Geriatrics UCSF 1998
  • Fellowship Primary Care/Medical Education UCSF 1996
  • M.D. School of Medicine Harvard University 1992
  • BA History, Medical Anthropology Brown University 1986
  • Residency Internal Medicine University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)

Interests

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  • medical humanities
  • geriatrics
  • wound care
  • end of life care
  • medical education
  • home care
  • ethnogeriatrics
  • preparing non-specialists for care of elderly patients
  • clinician/trainee attitudes towards the elderly
  • aging
  • public medical writing
  • narrative medicine
  • reflective learning
  • primary care

Websites

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Videos

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Grants and Projects

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  • Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program, HRSA, 2019-2023
  • Closing the Gap: Improving access to care and services at home for older adults, Anonymous, 2018-2023
  • California Adult and Senior Care Program Provider Information for Infection Control and Covid-19, California Department of Social Services, 2021-2022
  • AGE SELF CARE: Leveraging Technology to Expand Access to Safe & Healthy Aging in Place, Mount Zion Health Fund Grant, 2021-2022
  • Integrative Aging: A Clinical-Educational Innovation to Expand Care for Older Adults, Mount Zion Health Fund, 2018-2019
  • Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program, HRSA, 2015-2019
  • Promoting Research Opportunities Fully--Prospective Academics Transforming Health, NIH, 2011-2017

Publications (77)

Top publication keywords:
Reimbursement MechanismsStudents, MedicalWritingHealthy AgingFaculty, MedicalCounselorsGeriatricsAgeismPhysician-Patient RelationsHealth Services for the AgedEducation, MedicalTeachingHealth Care RationingPatient Care PlanningDrug and Narcotic Control

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