UCSF Fresno loses a ‘trailblazer, leader, and role model’ after a prolonged illness
UCSF Fresno on Wednesday evening announced the passing of one of its new top leaders after a long illness, and said “her loss will be felt far and wide.”
UCSF Fresno Professor Dr. Lori Weichenthal, who in November 2021 was tapped as associate dean for graduate medical education and clinical affairs, passed away on Feb. 3 after a prolonged illness, the university campus said.
She was 55.
Weichenthal also served as the associate program director for UCSF Fresno’s Department of Emergency Medicine.
UCSF Fresno described Weichenthal as a “trailblazer, leader, and role model” in the areas of emergency medicine and wilderness medicine. She was also “a vanguard for physician wellness and for diversity, equity, and belonging,” the university said.
“Lori was an outstanding leader for our campus in GME (graduate medical education) and a strong and committed advocate for our trainees and students,” Dr. Michael W. Peterson, a professor and associate dean for undergraduate medical education and research at UCSF Fresno, said in a statement. “Her commitment to their well-being and their training was unwavering. We will miss her steady hand leading the program.”
Weichenthal developed the emergency medicine wilderness medicine fellowship in 2008 and served as the program director during the program’s first years, the university said. Recently, she helped create a standardized curriculum for wilderness medicine by working with fellowship programs across the country.
Wilderness medicine is the practice of emergency medicine in “resource-limited conditions,” such as in extreme environments, according to Stanford Medicine. For example, providing care in the mountains with limited medical equipment to injured hikers when rescue teams can’t get to them or providing care to patients in remote areas, according to various other sites.
In 2016, Weichenthal was appointed to serve as assistant dean for graduate medical education.
“Her leadership included starting a Women in Academic Medicine group at UCSF Fresno to help address the disparities that exist between men and women in academic medicine,” UCSF Fresno said. “In 2018, to help better understand the culture at UCSF Fresno around diversity and inclusion, Dr. Weichenthal founded a committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.”
Weichenthal also developed a wellness curriculum for UCSF Fresno residents.
“She served on the national level in EM physician organizations to bring the importance of wellness for physicians to the attention of all,” the university said. “And she conducted research looking at burnout rates in EM residents and at whether a wellness curriculum might decrease burnout and compassion fatigue; recently completing a study on the impact of a mindfulness meditation course on trainee and faculty wellness.”
Her work was recognized with several awards and she was inducted into the UCSF Academy of Medical Educators.
UCSF Fresno said she is remembered by colleagues as “compassionate, caring and kind.”
“Her impact on residents, fellows, students, and her colleagues is substantial, and she will be deeply missed,” the university said. “Her loss will be felt far and wide.”
Weichenthal is survived by her husband Dan Wolfe.
This story was originally published February 9, 2023 at 3:55 PM.
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