On the twenty-fourth overall episode and our third episode of Setting the Scene’s series: “Dual Degrees in Medicine,” we are joined by Dr. Kim Rhoads. Dr. Rhoads received her BA and MS from University of California, Berkeley and her MD from University of California, San Francisco. She completed her General Surgery Residency at UCSF, after which she went on to obtain an MPH in Healthcare Policy and Management from Harvard University, School of Public Health. She also served as the inaugural UCSF Philip R. Lee Fellow in Health Policy from 2007 to 2008. Dr. Rhoads has formal training in community organizing at the Center for Third World Organizing in Oakland, California, and was a member of the first cohort of academic-community partnership teams trained by the California Breast Cancer Research Program.

Dr. Rhoads is currently an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at UCSF. She is also the Director at the Office of Community Engagement and is an Associate Director for Community Outreach and Engagement at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. She is heavily involved in both basic science research and clinical care as a colorectal surgeon through health services research in cancer disparities. Before joining UCSF as a member of the faculty, Dr. Rhoads founded the Community Outreach and Engagement program for the Stanford Cancer Institute. Through her research and public health background, Dr. Rhoads works to promote health equity and eliminate disparities.