Sunita Mutha, M.D.

Assistant Adjunct Professor Attending Physician, UCSF/Mount Zion Director, The Network a collaboration of academic centers, health plans, and physician groups to improve medical education and health care (Center for the Health Professions)

Education

• Medical school: Albany Medical College, Albany, NY
• Residency and chief residency: University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
• Fellowship: Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar Program (UCSF-Stanford University)

Affiliations

Center for the Health Professions, UCSF

Areas of Interest

• Cultural Competency
• Health Disparities
• Curriculum development & evaluation
• Medical education
• Leadership development for physicians

Dr. Mutha's work is in the arena of improving the quality of care for diverse populations through the use organizational change and educational strategies to reduce health disparities. Recent projects have included development of a curriculum, "Toward Culturally Competent Care: A Toolbox for Teaching Communication Strategies," which is being used at by individuals in academic institutions, hospital systems, community clinics and government agencies. Faculty development workshops based on these curricular materials have prepared nearly 200 clinical educators and health professionals nationwide, representing academic health centers and a health systems, to design and implement cultural competency training programs in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, psychology and allied health professions. Our evaluation of these trainings reveal that workshop participants, compared with a control group, were significantly more likely to report high levels of self-efficacy for nine of the ten content areas after the training and are significantly more likely to completed conducted eduatoinal programs. This work is now increasingly focused building connections with state and local public health departments, hospital systems, and academic institutions to develop effectively organizational strategies for improving care for diverse populations.

Selected Publications

1. Fine M, Smith M, Carson C, Mutha S, Sankey S, Weissfeld L, Kapoor WN. Prognosis and Outcomes of Patients with Community-Acquired Pneumonia. A Meta Analysis. JAMA 1996; 275: 134-141.

2. Mutha S, Takayama JI, O'Neil EH. Insights into Medical Student Career Choices Based on Third- and Fourth-Year Students' Focus-Group Discussions. Acad Med 1997; 72:635-640.

3. Jeffe DB, Mutha S, Kim LE, Singal RB, Evanoff BA, L'Ecuyer PB, Fraser VJ. Healthcare Workers' Attitudes and Compliance with Universal Precautions: Gender, Occupation, and Specialty Differences. Infec Control and Hosp Epidemiol 1997;18:710-712.

4. Jeffe DB, Mutha S, Kim LE, Evanoff BA, L'Ecuyer PB, Fraser VJ. Does Clinical Experience Affect Medical Students' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Compliance with Universal Precautions? Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 1998;19:767-771.

5. Mutha S, Bellack JP, O'Neil EH. Academic Health Centers: A Future Of Struggles and New Identities. WJM 1999;171(4):276-278.

6. Jeffe DB, Mutha S, Kim LE, Evanoff BA, Fraser VJ. Evaluation of a Preclinical, Educational and Skills-Training Program to Improve Students' Use of Blood and Body Fluid Precautions: One-Year Follow-Up. Prev Med 1999;29:365-373.

7. Mutha S, Norman G, O'Neil EH. Medical Practice 2010: How We Get There. WJM 2000;172:274-277

8. Ogrinc G, Mutha S, Irby D. The Evidence for Longitudinal Ambulatory Rotations. Acad Med. 2002; 77(7): 668-93.

9. Ogrinc G, Headrick L, Mutha S, Coleman MT, O'Donnell J, Miles P. Teaching Medical Students and Residents about Practice-Based Learning and Improvement: Recommendation from the Literature. Acad Med. 2003;78(7):748-756.

10. Jacobs EA, Chen AH, Karliner L, Puebla Fortier J, Mutha S. Legal and Regulatory Obligations to Provide Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Emergency Department Services. Clinical Pediatric Emergency Medicine [in press]