Geri Spotlight: Caroline Sou Ziesmer and Kathryn Sellman

Interviewed by Kathryn Sellman, MD over Zoom

About Caroline’s Role/Ongoing Projects

As Operations Analyst on the Division’s Core Administrative team, Caroline wears many hats, including but not limited to: event planning, scheduling, supporting faculty onboarding, and managing the Division’s website and weekly newsletter, GeriNews. She even helped with research projects during COVID!

Currently, much of Caroline’s work is dedicated to coordinating new faculty onboarding. She finds it rewarding to play a role in supporting the Division’s clinical programs by ensuring they are adequately staffed so they can operate smoothly. So far, there have been 6 new faculty hires this academic year. Caroline has seen firsthand how adequately staffing clinical programs ensures that older adults have access to the care they need. In addition, when staffing is adequate, there is less burnout among current faculty.

One of Caroline’s favorite aspects of her role is working with all the wonderful, smart, and kind Division faculty, staff, and fellows.

What is a professional goal you would like to accomplish by the end of this year?
Caroline has an interest in learning more about research finance. While it is not a part of her current role, she would like to learn more so that she can be helpful to her coworkers.

More about Caroline
What is a “fun fact” about you that not many people know?
Caroline understands three dialects of Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin, Toishanese (also known as Taishanese)) and a tiny bit of Korean and Japanese, on top of English. Her parents speak Cantonese and her grandparents speak Toishanese. Caroline picked up Mandarin from many of the TV shows she watched growing up. She also took one year of Korean classes. Her husband is half Japanese and his mother babysits their toddler, so now she is picking up Japanese from her child as she learns.  

What are you happiest doing in your free time?
Spending time with her family and friends, preferably outdoors, doing something new/active. A lot of activities center around exploring with her toddler -- parks, the zoo, interactive museums. Great excuse to get outside. 

What is the best advice you’ve ever heard?
“When you have a grand, long-term goal, work backwards and figure out the smaller steps you need to accomplish in order to reach your long-term goal.”

Who is someone you admire and why?
Dr. Louise Walter is someone Caroline admires. She has an impeccable memory, is extremely kind, organized, thoughtful, and tactful. She is a great role model for what it means to be a kind leader.  

What are some causes you care about?
Caroline cares about public safety, global warming, and education. 

What would your backup career be?
Caroline enjoys sharing personal stories and learnings with people with the hopes that they might find it helpful if they're on a similar journey. For instance, she feels like she has so many things to share about her experience as a first-time mom. She thinks it would be great to get paid to create such content, without all the downsides of being a "content creator."

What else would you like us to know about you?
Caroline is a strong Class Pass advocate! She has found the fitness class subscription service to be a great way to explore the city and experience different workout options.

Interviewed by Caroline Sou Ziesmer over Zoom

About Kathryn’s Role/Ongoing Projects

Kathryn is currently on her Palliative Care consults rotation at the SFVAHC. She feels this rotation has pushed her beyond her comfort zone, particularly in terms of talking to patients about what happens after bad news has already been delivered. She is learning a lot from her attendings and loves being surrounded by all the leaders in the field and soaking up all the wisdom they have to offer.

By ensuring that our clinical programs are adequately staffed, Kathryn helps ensure our older patients are able to access the care that they need, supporting the Division’s mission through patient care. Additionally, as a Fellow and learner, she also supports the Division’s mission to optimize the care of older adults through her learning.

Kathryn has gravitated towards geriatrics since she started medical school. She has always been interested in caring for people with complex health issues, helping people maintain functionality, and ensuring they have the best quality of life possible. Working on UCSF/VA teams as a Geriatric Medicine Fellow and honing her skills on caring for older adults is a full circle moment for her.

What is a professional goal you would like to accomplish by the end of this year?
A professional goal Kathryn would like to accomplish by the end of this year is to finish their joint quality improvement project with her peers.

More about Kathryn
What is a “fun fact” about you that not many people know?
Kathryn went solo to the Taylor Swift concert in San Jose in July (7/29) and had a blast!
 

What are you happiest doing in your free time?
Kathryn moved to San Francisco a month ago and during her free time, she enjoys exploring the city by taking walks at the Presidio or at the beach with her fiance. Since Kathryn is from Georgia, she loves experiencing all the nature in San Francisco, e.g. Eucalyptus trees. Kathryn also recently joined a yoga studio in her neighborhood and is looking forward to building a community there! 

What’s the best advice you’ve ever heard?
Kathryn's calculus teacher once told her to "never be too sure about anything you're not sure about". The meaning of this phrase has evolved a lot for Kathryn over the years, but she has found that being humble and honest in moments when you're not sure about something has served her better than "faking it".

Who is someone you admire and why?
Taylor Swift. Kathryn admires her because she is incredibly generous, e.g., she just donated millions of dollars to the crew members supporting her current nation-wide tour. Kathryn also recently saw her in concert, and Taylor was incredibly gracious, and despite all her fame, still remains humble and grounded.

What are some causes you care about?
Kathryn cares about meeting patients where they are/in their home and providing them with the care they need.

What would your backup career be?
Kathryn enjoys working with hair, so she thinks perhaps becoming a hair stylist or someone who cuts people's hair would be really fun.

What else would you like us to know about you?
Kathryn has grown to like cats since her fiancé has two cats, though she truly is a dog person and would like to rescue a Corgi one day.