BOSTON, November 6, 2004 - Sharad Jain, M.D., associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine and assistant chief of the medical service at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, was presented tonight with the Association of American Medical Colleges' (AAMC) annual Humanism in Medicine Award. The award, sponsored by the AAMC and the Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative, honors a medical school faculty physician who is a mentor for medical students and a practitioner of patient-centered care.

Dr. Jain is recognized for his contributions as a medical educator and student advisor, for the clinical care and compassion he shows veterans at his hospital, and for his tireless volunteer work for the homeless. In these three roles he is praised by his peers and students alike. Students call Dr. Jain "the greater omentum" (the name of the membrane that protects and supports the abdominal organs) because of his ability to "hold everything together" for his students and offer them support as they experience educational challenges and difficult career choices.

Dr. Jain pairs his enthusiasm for teaching with his enthusiasm for community service at the UCSF Homeless Clinic, where he is a regular volunteer and mentor to the medical students who work there. He teaches in three related courses at the medical school, "Introduction to Poverty Medicine," "Homeless Medicine," and "Social Activism in Medicine." He also serves as co-director of the school's new area of concentration in community health and social advocacy, a curriculum designed to support student community service projects. Dr. Jain's students see him as a role model for socially active physicians of the future; he is the faculty sponsor of "Student Health Professionals for Social Responsibility," a UCSF student organization.

Said one of his student nominators, "Sharad epitomizes many of the reasons we chose to go into medicine - the quality human relationship, the selfless giving, the desire to help and educate." Another added, "His devoted commitment to social justice is contagious."

Born in India and raised in Berkeley, California, Dr. Jain earned his medical degree from UCSF, where he also completed a residency in internal medicine. He then worked as a staff physician at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, where he was also a clinical instructor in the Department of Medicine at Stanford University. He returned to UCSF in 1997.

The Humanism in Medicine Award recipient is chosen by the national selection committee of the AAMC's Organization of Student Representatives' Administrative Board. The award recipient is selected according to a number of criteria, including positive mentoring skills; involvement in community service; compassion and sensitivity; collaboration with students and patients; and modeling ethics of the profession.

The Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative is a research and educational program committed to understanding and strengthening the patient-physician relationship. It is a program of Pfizer Inc., the research-based global pharmaceutical company, www.positiveprofiles.com.

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The Association of American Medical Colleges is a not-for-profit association representing all 129 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 68 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and 94 academic and scientific societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC represents 109,000 faculty members, 67,000 medical students, and 104,000 resident physicians. Additional information about the AAMC and U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals is available at www.aamc.org/newsroom.

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