How the Patient Care Fund Empowers Residents and Fellows to Improve Care for All
Dr. Claudia See, a second year Internal Medicine resident, with a cardiology patient and her mother who are looking forward to trying some heart-healthy recipes from their new cookbooks.
Several years ago, while her father recovered from brain surgery at UCSF, GME Strategic Initiatives Specialist and Patient Care Fund purchasing / liaising lead Marisa McFarlane and her family gathered in his hospital room and listened to the reggae music he loved.
“I know it helped him heal and it made our visits more enjoyable, too,” she recalls. “At the time, I thought it was so special that he could listen to music in his room – especially music he had chosen,” she says. “Later, I learned that the sound system was the result of a Patient Care Fund project.”
Established in 2002, the Patient Care Fund is funded by UCSF Health, coordinated by the Office of Graduate Medical Education, and supported by the Resident and Fellow Council. This fund enables residents and clinical fellows to turn their observations into tangible, sustainable improvements for patients and families. There is a similar fund at ZSFG.
Trainees’ Unique Perspective Reveals Opportunities to Improve Care
“Because residents and fellows spend so much time with patients and families, they're uniquely positioned to recognize small gaps that can have an outsized impact on the patient experience,” explains Dr. Glenn Rosenbluth, GME Director of Patient Safety and Quality Improvement, who previously led the committee that reviews Patient Care Fund proposals. “The fund gives trainees a way to turn those observations into improvements that directly enhance patient care.” Rosenbluth experienced the fund’s impact firsthand when he submitted a proposal during his second year of residency, more than 20 years ago.
The fund is intended to support innovative patient-care improvements that do not have another established source of funding. “The fund is not intended to support research, staffing, or salaries,” clarifies Dr. Rosenbluth. “It can support projects such as making stairwells more inviting so patients are encouraged to walk or providing books and puzzles for patients in prolonged isolation – meaningful improvements that might not otherwise be funded.”
Turning Trainees’ Insights Into Action
Many times, Patient Care Fund projects begin as one resident's observation but become a lasting improvement for patients and families. Some projects improve a hospital stay. Others continue shaping patients' lives long after they leave UCSF.
Susan Gutierrez, MD, now an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, helped lead a Patient Care Fund project as a fellow in 2025: an Art Day for patients in the Intestinal Rehabilitation Clinic. The event had an impact that went beyond the day itself: one mother later shared that Art Day motivated the decision to enroll her son in school after years of homeschooling.
Given the complexity of his medical needs, the idea of him attending school had always felt overwhelming. At Art Day, however, she connected with other parents of children with similar needs who were successfully attending school, and it gave her the confidence to take the same step for her son.
“That’s the power of an event like this that brings families together,” Gutierrez says. ”It’s valuable for our patients to meet peers managing similar health conditions, and it’s just as valuable for the parents to connect with each other, share knowledge, and learn from what other families have navigated.”
The projects vary widely, but they all begin with the same question: What small change could make a patient's experience better?
Recent projects have included weighted blankets for patients with congenital heart disease; mobile art and symptom-management carts; care cards for palliative care patients and bereaved families; specialty garments for radiation oncology patients who have undergone mastectomies; hair and skin-care products for patients with curly or coiled hair; robotic companion pets for older adults with dementia; sunscreen and moisturizer kits; culturally responsive cookbooks; patient education resources and videos; and even a comic book for pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
Seed Funding Creates Sustainable Improvements
Each year, the Patient Care Fund makes $50,000 in seed funding available for resident- and clinical fellow-led projects. In recent years, the fund has supported between 11 and 13 projects annually.
Representatives from the Resident and Fellow Council, the Office of Graduate Medical Education and UCSF Health review proposals for their patient-care impact, sustainability and compliance with UCSF policies.
Because the fund prioritizes sustainability, many projects are designed to continue benefiting patients after the initial seed funding has been spent.
Advancing Patient Care – and Developing Future Leaders
“It speaks to the dedication and excellence of our trainees that so many of their ideas have been implemented and sustained,” says Dr. Darren Fiore, Interim Co-Associate Dean of GME, UCSF Health GME site director and lead of the Patient Care Fund.
“I’m continually inspired by our residents and fellows,” McFarlane says. “They genuinely want to help. They notice gaps in care and take the initiative to address them.”
The Patient Care Fund helps ensure that those observations do not remain merely ideas. They become meaningful improvements that benefit patients and families while giving residents and fellows experience leading change – experience they will carry with them throughout their careers. To learn more, check out the infographic below and see our Patient Care Fund website.
