Patricia O'Sullivan, EdD, MS
Professor Emeritus
Surgery
School of Medicine

Her educational research studies have collaborators from medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and health-related professions. The UCSF faculty development program that she led received the international ASPIRE for Excellence Award. Dr. O’Sullivan has led the Research in Medical Education Section of the AAMC, the RIME Program Planning Committee and the Division for Professions Education of the American Educational Research Association. She is a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association and recipient of the Merrill Flair Award from the GEA, of the Outstanding Career Achievements in Medical Education from the Society of General Internal Medicine and the UCSF Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award. In 2022, she received the Harmen Tiddens Medal from the University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands. In 2024 she was honored by the Association of Surgical Educators as the Distinguished Master Educator. At UCSF, Dr. O'Sullivan is a member of the Haile T. Debas Academy of Medical Educators and was the holder of the Department of Surgery Endowed Chair in Surgical Education from 2014-2024 (term-limited).

• Comparing Peer vs. Near Peer Feedback in an At-Home Laparoscopic Curriculum.
  Journal of surgical education 2025 Cowan B, Brian R, Illangasekare T, Chern H, O'Sullivan P
• What to do when things go wrong: A simulation for high-volume hemorrhage control.
  Surgery 2025 Cowan B, Kaur M, Drapeau S, Knox J, O'Sullivan P, Chern H, Gomez-Sanchez C
• Learner-Level Psychological Factors Impact Feedback Recipience in Medical Education.
  Medical science educator 2025 Mills LM, Lalchandani P, Cate OT, Boscardin C, O'Sullivan PS
• Mentoring the writing: a tricky task for research supervisors in the dissemination of scholarly work.
  Advances in health sciences education : theory and practice 2025 van Schalkwyk S, Kuper A, O'Sullivan P
• Usability of a Novel 3D Printed Open Inguinal Hernia Repair Simulator.
  Journal of surgical education 2025 Ogomori K, Brian R, Drapeau S, O'Sullivan P, Lin M
• Attitudes toward Sustainability among Surgeons at Ten Academic Hospitals in the United States: Are we Ready, Willing, and Incentivized to Change?
  Annals of surgery 2025 Sathe TS, Wang JJ, Wang K, Sorrentino TA, Yap A, Ashraf Ganjouei A, O'Sullivan P, Roll GR, Gandhi S, Lee H, Alseidi A, Surgical Sustainability Working Group
• How can research supervision relationships affect dissemination?
  Advances in health sciences education : theory and practice 2025 O'Sullivan P, Kuper A, van Schalkwyk S
• Avoiding common pitfalls in mixed methods research?
  Advances in health sciences education : theory and practice 2024 O'Sullivan P, Kuper A, Cleland J
• Who should proof my paper?
  Advances in health sciences education : theory and practice 2024 O'Sullivan P, Kuper A, Cleland J
• Students are watching: They see how surgical residents and attendings deal with difficult situations.
  American journal of surgery 2020 Nnamani Silva ON, Campbell AR, Roman SA, Sosa JA, Lin MYC, O'Sullivan PS
• Teaching in the robotic environment: Use of alternative approaches to guide operative instruction.
  American journal of surgery 2019 Green CA, Chu SN, Huang E, Chern H, O'Sullivan P
• What Do Medical Students Do and Want When Caring for "Difficult Patients"?
  Teaching and learning in medicine 2018 Steinauer JE, Teherani A, Preskill F, Ten Cate O, O'Sullivan P
• Is Robotic Surgery Highlighting Critical Gaps in Resident Training?
  Journal of graduate medical education 2018 Green CA, Abrahamson D, Chern H, O'Sullivan PS
• Microanalysis of video from a robotic surgical procedure: implications for observational learning in the robotic environment.
  Journal of robotic surgery 2018 Green CA, O'Sullivan PS, Sarin A, Chern H
• What Makes "Difficult Patients" Difficult for Medical Students?
  Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 2018 Steinauer JE, O'Sullivan P, Preskill F, Ten Cate O, Teherani A
• Developing End-of-Training Entrustable Professional Activities for Psychiatry: Results and Methodological Lessons.
  Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 2018 Young JQ, Hasser C, Hung EK, Kusz M, O'Sullivan PS, Stewart C, Weiss A, Williams N
• Evidence for the Validity of the Psychopharmacotherapy-Structured Clinical Observation Tool: Results of a Factor and Time Series Analysis.
  Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry 2018 Young JQ, Rasul R, O'Sullivan PS
• Translating Theory Into Practice: Implementing a Program of Assessment.
  Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 2018 Hauer KE, O'Sullivan PS, Fitzhenry K, Boscardin C
• Using Technological Advances to Improve Surgery Curriculum: Experience With a Mobile Application.
  Journal of surgical education 2018 Green CA, Kim EH, O'Sullivan PS, Chern H
• Performance Assessment of Pharmacotherapy: Results from a Content Validity Survey of the Psychopharmacotherapy-Structured Clinical Observation (P-SCO) Tool.
  Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry 2018 Young JQ, Irby DM, Kusz M, O'Sullivan PS
• Current robotic curricula for surgery residents: A need for additional cognitive and psychomotor focus.
  American journal of surgery 2017 Green CA, Chern H, O'Sullivan PS
• Learner, Patient, and Supervisor Features Are Associated With Different Types of Cognitive Load During Procedural Skills Training: Implications for Teaching and Instructional Design.
  Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 2017 Sewell JL, Boscardin CK, Young JQ, Ten Cate O, O'Sullivan PS
• Technical skill improvement with surgical preparatory courses: What advantages are reflected in residency?
  American journal of surgery 2017 Green CA, Huang E, Zhao NW, O'Sullivan PS, Kim E, Chern H
• Burnout and Stress Among US Surgery Residents: Psychological Distress and Resilience.
  Journal of the American College of Surgeons 2017 Lebares CC, Guvva EV, Ascher NL, O'Sullivan PS, Harris HW, Epel ES
• Developing and rewarding teachers as educators and scholars: remarkable progress and daunting challenges.
  Medical education 2017 Irby DM, O'Sullivan PS
• A Sequential Implementation Model for Workforce Development: A Case Study of Medical Residency Training for Substance Use Concerns.
  Teaching and learning in medicine 2017 O'Sullivan PS, Yuan P, Satre DD, Wamsley M, Satterfield J
• Systems-Oriented Workplace Learning Experiences for Early Learners: Three Models.
  Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 2017 O'Brien BC, Bachhuber MR, Teherani A, Iker TM, Batt J, O'Sullivan PS
• Excellence in PhD dissertations in health professions education: Toward standards and expectations.
  Medical teacher 2017 Ten Cate O, Derese A, Durning SJ, O'Sullivan P
• Mixed Methods in Health Professions Education Scholarship.
  Journal of graduate medical education 2017 O'Brien BC, O'Sullivan PS
• Health Systems Science Curricula in Undergraduate Medical Education: Identifying and Defining a Potential Curricular Framework.
  Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 2017 Gonzalo JD, Dekhtyar M, Starr SR, Borkan J, Brunett P, Fancher T, Green J, Grethlein SJ, Lai C, Lawson L, Monrad S, O'Sullivan P, Schwartz MD, Skochelak S
• Performance of a cognitive load inventory during simulated handoffs: Evidence for validity.
  SAGE open medicine 2016 Young JQ, Boscardin CK, van Dijk SM, Abdullah R, Irby DM, Sewell JL, Ten Cate O, O'Sullivan PS
• Faculty development efforts to promote screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) in an internal medicine faculty-resident practice.
  Substance abuse 2016 Stone A, Wamsley M, O'Sullivan P, Satterfield J, Satre DD, Julian K
• The Health Professions Education Pathway: Preparing Students, Residents, and Fellows to Become Future Educators.
  Teaching and learning in medicine 2016 Chen HC, Wamsley MA, Azzam A, Julian K, Irby DM, O'Sullivan PS
• Early learners as health coaches for older adults preparing for surgery.
  The Journal of surgical research 2016 Kaplan JA, Brinson Z, Hofer R, O'Sullivan P, Chang A, Horvath H, Chang GJ, Finlayson E
• Influence of learner knowledge and case complexity on handover accuracy and cognitive load: results from a simulation study.
  Medical education 2016 Young JQ, van Dijk SM, O'Sullivan PS, Custers EJ, Irby DM, Ten Cate O
• What's in a learning environment? Recognizing teachers' roles in shaping a learning environment to support competency.
  Perspectives on medical education 2015 O'Sullivan PS
• Sequencing learning experiences to engage different level learners in the workplace: An interview study with excellent clinical teachers.
  Medical teacher 2015 Chen HC, O'Sullivan P, Teherani A, Fogh S, Kobashi B, ten Cate O
• Educational and individual factors associated with positive change in and reaffirmation of medical students' intention to practice in underserved areas.
  Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 2014 Boscardin CK, Grbic D, Grumbach K, O'Sullivan P
• Home Video Curriculum for Basic Surgical Skills
  MedEdPORTAL 2014 Chern H, Sheu L, O'Sullivan P, Kim E
• PIGS (Porcine Integrated General Surgery Simulation) Curriculum
  MedEdPORTAL 2014 Chern H, Kim E, O'Sullivan P
• Designing standardized patients assessment to measure SBIRT skill for residents: A literature review and case study
  Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education 2013 Wamsley MA, Julian KA, O'Sullivan P, Sartre DD, McCance-Katz E, Batki SL, Satterfield JM
• How to Succeed as a Medical Education Scholar: Identifying Your Individual Strategy and Creating a Roadmap For Scholarship
  MedEdPORTAL 2013 Uijtdehaage S, Kalishman S, O'Sullivan P, Robins L
• Implementing SBIRT in pediatrics: Results of a needs assessment
  Journal of Adolescent Health 2013 Buckelew S, Whittle A, Lum P, O'Sullivan P, Satterfield J
• Using the AAMC Toolbox for Evaluating Educators: You be the Judge
  MedEdPORTAL 2013 Gusic M, Amiel J, Baldwin C, Chandran L, Fincher R, Mavis B, et al
• Reflections on the identity development of medical educators
  Medical Science Educator 2012 O'Sullivan PS
• The UCSF Faculty Development Workshop on Critical Reflection in Medical Education: Training Educators to Teach and Provide Feedback on Learners' Reflections
  MedEdPORTAL 2012 Aronson L, Kruidering M, O'Sullivan P
• UCSF LEAP (Learning from your Experiences as a Professional): Guidelines for Critical Reflection
  MedEdPORTAL 2012 Aronson L, Kruidering M, Niehaus B, O'Sullivan P
• Reframing research on faculty development.
  Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 2011 O'Sullivan PS, Irby DM
• Enhancing Pharmacotherapy Competence with Performance Assessment: Development and Initial Testing of a Structured, Clinical Observation Tool
  Academic Psychiatry 2011 Young JQ, Lieu S, O'Sullivan P, Tong L
• Three Standardized Patient Cases to Measure Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) Skills in Primary Care Residents
  MedEdPORTAL 2011 Wamsley M, Treit K, Satterfield J, Levitt D, McCance-Katz E, Moreno-John G, et al
• Collaborative research in medical education: a discussion of theory and practice.
  Medical education 2010 O'Sullivan PS, Stoddard HA, Kalishman S
• Adapting Mental Workload Theory to Construct Balanced Caseloads in Outpatient Continuity Clinics: A Method to Improve Resident Education and Patient Safety
  Academic Medicine 2010 Young JQ, Niehaus B, Lieu SC, O'Sullivan PS
• Reflective Ability Rubric and User Guide
  MedEdPORTAL 2010 O'Sullivan P, Aronson L, Chittenden E, Niehaus B, Learman L
• Becoming an academic doctor: perceptions of scholarly careers.
  Medical education 2009 O'Sullivan PS, Niehaus B, Lockspeiser TM, Irby DM
• Joe Thornton: Teaching and Assessing Medical Students Chronic Disease Management Skills Utilizing the Chronic Care Model and a Standardized Patient
  MedEdPORTAL 2009 Wamsley M , Ng R, Chang A, Hauer K, OSullivan P, Alpers L, et al.
• Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of the Transition from Paper and Pencil to Computer Assessment in the Medical Microscopic Anatomy Curriculum
  Journal of the International Association of Medical Educators 2007 Kane JM, Burns RE, O'Sullivan PS, Hart TJ, Thomas JR, Harrison IA
• Educational development program for residency program directors and coordinators.
  Teaching and learning in medicine 2006 O'Sullivan PS, Heard JK, Petty M, Mercado CC, Hicks E
• GME Showcase Portfolio Assessment
  MedEdPORTAL 2006 Jarvis RM, Guise JB, Clardy JA, Thrush CR, Moses A, O'Sullivan P
• Medications and sleep in nursing home residents with dementia
  Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association 2006 Simpson KC, Richards KC, Enderlin CA, O'Sullivan PS, Koehn M
• Predictors of daytime sleep in nursing home residents with dementia
  Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association 2006 Viegas SM, Richards KC, Beck CK, Lambert CW, O'Sullivan PS, Cole CS, Hutchison L, Shue VM
• Development Program for Residency Program Directors and Coordinators
  MedEdPORTAL 2005 O'Sullivan PS, Petty MP, Heard JK
• Facilitating curricular change: An institutional approach to aiding residency program directors' efforts with ACGME competencies
  Annals of Behavioral Science and Medical Education 2005 Petty ME, Allen RM, O'Sullivan PS, Heard JK
• Portfolio assessment and self-directed learning
  Academic Exchange Quarterly 2005 Thrush CR, O'Sullivan PS, Clardy JA, Vander Putten J, Kamin C
• Recognizing prodromal symptoms in women at risk for coronary heart disease
  The Female Patient 2004 McSweeney J, O'Sullivan P, Moser D, Clark L, Green A, Knight D
• Reliability of speech intelligibility ratings using the unified Parkinson's Disease rating scale
  Journal of Medical Speech-Language Pathology 2003 Zraick RI, Dennie TM, Tabbal SD, Hutton TJ, Hicks GM, O'Sullivan PS
• The Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire: Measurement of sleep in critically ill patients
  Journal of Nursing Measurement 2000 Richards KC, O'Sullivan PS, Phillips RL
• A comparison of scoring criteria for Clock Drawing Test
  Journal of Clinical Geropsychology 1999 Souder E, O'Sullivan P, Pechenik G
• Contexts and impacts of disruptive behavior in institutionalized elders
  Aging & Mental Health 1999 Souder E, Heithoff K, O'Sullivan P, Lancaster AE, Beck C
• Assessing disruptive behavior in older adults: The Disruptive Behavior Scale
  Aging & Mental Health 1997 Beck C, Heithoff K, Baldwin B, Cuffel B, O'Sullivan P, Chumbler NR
• Neuropsychological test performance of older and younger patients with alcohol dependence
  Clinical Gerontologist 1997 Wiseman EJ, Souder E, O'Sullivan P
• Performance-based prevention/rehabilitation of falls in elderly veterans
  Rehabilitation R&D Progress Reports 1997 Means KM, Rodell DE, O'Sullivan PS
• Age and denial of alcoholism severity
  Clinical Gerontologist 1996 Wiseman EJ, Souder E, O'Sullivan P
• Visual recognition training of older adults with speech spectrograms
  Perceptual & Motor Skills 1996 Drummond SS, Danger J, Casey BE, O'Sullivan P
• A learner-centered journal club
  Teaching and Learning in Medicine 1995 O'Sullivan PS, Pinsker J, Jeremiah J, Wartman SA
• Evaluating student performance in the experiential setting with confidence
  American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 1995 Beck DE, Boh LE, O'Sullivan PS
• Increasing the accuracy of observer ratings by enhancing cognitive processing skills
  American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 1995 Beck DE, O'Sullivan PS, Boh LE
• Recognizing volunteer practitioner-educators through intrinsic and extrinsic incentives
  American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 1995 Beck DE, Aceves-Blumenthal C, Jirak J, Kawahara N, Morris N, O'Sullivan PS
• The hot fudge sundae road to tenure
  Nurse Educator 1995 Vessey JA, O'Sullivan P, Monsen RB
• An intrathecal fentanyl dose- response study in lower extremity revascularization procedures
  Anesthesiology 1994 Reuben SS, Dunn SM, Duprat KM, O'Sullivan P
• On becoming a physician: perspectives of students in combined baccalaureate-M.D. degree programs
  Teaching and Learning in Medicine 1994 Epstein LC, Hayes J, Arnold L, O'Sullivan P, et al
• Research from the research utilization project environmental temperatures
  Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing 1994
• Utilization of medical services by drug abusers in detoxification
  Journal of Substance Abuse 1993 Stein MD, O'Sullivan PS, Ellis RJ, et al
• A fractured epidural needle: case report and study
  Anesthesia & Analgesia 1992 Dunn SM, Steinberg RB, O'Sullivan PS, Goolishian WT, Villa EA
• Perceptions of pediatricians' helpfulness: A national study of mothers of young disabled children
  Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology 1992 O'Sullivan P, Mahoney G, Robinson C
• The family environments of children with disabilities
  Topics in Early Childhood and Special Education 1992 Mahoney G, O'Sullivan PS, Robinson C
• Effects of continuing education: Pain assessment and documentation
  Cancer Nursing 1991 Camp-Sorrell D, O'Sullivan P
• Evaluation strategies selected by residents: the role of self-assessment, training level and sex
  Teaching and Learning in Medicine 1991 O'Sullivan PS, Pinsker J, Landau C
• A national study of mother's perception of family focused intervention
  Journal of Early Intervention 1990 Mahoney G, O'Sullivan P, Dennebaum J
• Early intervention practices with families of children with handicaps
  Mental Retardation 1990 Mahoney G, O'Sullivan P
• Involving practicing nurses in research
  Applied Nursing Research 1990 O'Sullivan PS, Goodman PA
• Maternal perceptions of early intervention services: A Scale for assessing family focused intervention
  Topics of Early Childhood Special Education 1990 Mahoney G, O'Sullivan P, Dennebaum J
• Sibling relationships in mildly mentally retarded and nonretarded children
  National Forum in Special Education 1990 Gargiulo RM, O'Sullivan P, Stephens D, Goldman R
• The relationship of attitude, subjective norm, and behavioral intent to the documentation behavior of nurses
  Scholarly Inquiry for Nursing Practice 1990
• Comparison of hydrostatic weighing and bioelectric impedance measurements in determining body composition pre- and postdehydration
  The Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy 1989 Pearman P, Hunter G, Hendricks C, O'Sullivan P
• Special education practices with young handicapped children
  Journal of Early Intervention 1989
• The family practices of service providers for young handicapped children
  Infant Mental Health Journal 1989 Mahoney G, O'Sullivan P, Fors S
• Nursingconnections
  A study to determine the relationship between the method of organizing nursing care delivery and job satisfaction of nursing personnel 1988 Brock AM, O'Sullivan P
• Assessment of learned helplessness in retarded and nonretarded children: a methodological investigation
  Journal of Human Behavior and Learning 1987 Gargiulo RM, O'Sullivan PS, Barr NJ
• Changes in students' perceptions of the professional role
  Physical Therapy 1987 Corb DF, Pinkston D, Harden RS, O'Sullivan P, Fecteau L
• Effects of route of fluid administration on severity of side effects with postmetrizamidemyelogram
  Journal of Neuroscience Nursing 1987 Quinn CM, O'Sullivan PS, Patterson ET
• Learned helplessness in reflective and impulsive mentally retarded and nonretarded children
  Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society 1987 Gargiulo RM, O'Sullivan PS, Barr NJ
• Transition from student to physical therapist: changes in perceptions of professional role and relationship between perceptions and job satisfaction
  Physical Therapy 1987 Schwertner RM, Pinkston D, O'Sullivan P, Denton B
• Comparative validity of two WAIS-R short forms with vocational rehabilitation clients
  Perceptual and motor skills 1986 Clayton GA, Sapp GL, O'Sullivan PS, Hall L
• Mildly mentally retarded and nonretarded children's learned helplessness
  American Journal of Mental Deficiency 1986
• The effects of two sites of high frequency vibration on cutaneous pain threshold
  Pain 1986 Sherer CL, Clelland J, O'Sullivan P, Doleys DM, Canan B
• A study to determine what variables predict institutionalization of elderly people
  Journal of Advanced Nursing 1985 Brock AM, O'Sullivan PS
• Detecting communication problems
  Nursing Management 1985 O'Sullivan P
• From wife to widow: Role transition in the elderly
  Journal of Psychosocial Nursing & Mental Health Services 1985
• Development of a cardiopulmonary resuscitation form.
  Journal of emergency nursing 1984 Bradford JY, O'Sullivan PS
• Analyzing communication patterns between an ED manager and staff members
  Journal of Emergency Nursing 1984 McCall P, Sparger G, O'Sullivan P
• An easy method to detect communication problems
  Quality Circle Digest 1982
• Vital sign documentation and primary nurses in the emergency department
  Journal of Emergency Nursing 1982 McCall P, O'Sullivan PS
• A model for the effect of an inservice program on junior high school student science achievement
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching 1981 O'Sullivan PS, Piper MK, Carbonari JP
• The National Teacher Examination: Can it Predict Classroom Performance
  Phi Delta Kappan 1980
• MCT: An alternative in high school chemistry
  Journal of Chemical Education 1977 O'Sullivan PS, Pecsok RS
• A semiempirical theory of diamagnetic susceptibilities with particular emphasis on oxygen containing molecules
  Journal of the American Chemical Society 1970
• Calculation of bond angles in five-membered conjugated ring systems
  Chemical Physics Letters 1970 O'Sullivan PS, Hameka HF, de la Vega J
• On the structure of cyclopentadiene
  Chemical Physics Letters 1970 O'Sullivan PS, Hameka HF, de la Vega J