John Maa, M.D., the Director of the UCSF Surgical Hospitalist Program, has also been in the vanguard of the related field of "surgical government," the intent to deliver a national message about access to high-quality and safe patient care, often beginning in the Emergency Room.
Traditionally, the care of hospital patients has been managed by residents, who are medical school graduates in the late stages of training. But residents rotate through the university system in one-month intervals and cannot provide much continuity for patients. Surgical hospitalists will be better trained to provide inpatient care more efficiently and will be more available to hospitalized patients than some primary care physicians or residents. The UCSF Surgical Hospitalist Program trains doctors in the emerging specialty of hospital-based surgical care.
To advance the notion that health care is a public good, Dr. Maa has worked with officials of government at all levels, including Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and Senator Dianne Feinstein, on health care policy. Dr. Maa has also testified before the California State Senate and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on issues of tobacco cessation, and obesity among California's children.
Dr. Maa believes that through proactive leadership, the field of surgery will define the structure of the American health care system and the future direction of medicine. He has emphasized the fundamental role of surgical education and the need to train future generations of physicians to be leaders in health care. As Associate Director of the surgical clerkship for third-year UCSF medical students, he directly impacts the way medical students are taught about patient care today.