Sandra Moody and Alex Smith Honored as GeriPal Mentor of the Year for 2019-2020

At UCSF Division of Geriatrics Fellows graduation this year, we introduced a new recognition, GeriPal Mentor of the Year, to be awarded by the graduating GeriPal fellow each year. When our GeriPal graduates learned about this, they, too, wanted to honor special mentors from their fellowship!

The GeriPal fellows have 8 months of dedicated time for professional development, and our faculty members devote time and energy to helping the fellows develop leadership, research, education, and program development skills.

For 2020, Evie Kalmar honors Sandra Moody.

"From the time I met her at the UCSF AGS dinner in the months before starting fellowship, Sandra took me under her wing. She has remained a supportive mentor and pen pal throughout my time in fellowship and even welcomed me for an away elective at Kameda Medical Center with her in Japan. Thanks, Sandra, my fellowship experience wouldn't have been nearly as rich without your mentorship!"

For 2019, Ashwin Kotwal honors Alex Smith.

"Alex was a fantastic research mentor during my GeriPal fellowship. He encouraged me to think about what matters most to me and my patients, what problems I want to solve, and how to find my own path at the intersection of geriatrics, palliative care, and the social sciences. He is patient, reassuring, always seems to know the right words to say, and I'm so fortunate to continue to have him as a role model!"

Thank you to Sandra and Alex, and all the faculty and staff for your commitment to our fellows!