UCSF Fresno Faculty Member to Receive Prestigious Kaiser Teaching Award

Bjorn Nilson, MD, director of pediatrics for the UCSF Fresno Medical Education Program, has been named a 2003 recipient of the prestigious Kaiser Teaching Award from the UCSF School of Medicine.

Nilson is being honored for his tireless efforts to support medical resident education in the Valley for more than 20 years. He will receive the award at the UCSF Fresno commencement ceremony on Thursday, June 5.

Four Kaiser Teaching Awards are presented each year—three to faculty on the main UCSF campus (one each to a member of a clinical department, a basic science department, and the volunteer clinical faculty), and one to a volunteer clinical faculty member in Fresno. Recipients receive a certificate and monetary reward.

“Dr. Nilson is a leader in training the Valley’s future doctors,” said Joan Voris, MD, associate dean of UCSF Fresno. “Not only has he delivered state-of-the-art education by carving out innovative teaching methods, he continues to be a role model to faculty and residents alike.”

The Kaiser Award criterion is teaching, not service based, and includes demonstration of teaching skills, motivation of learners, and communication abilities. Faculty and medical residents select the recipient.

Past recipients of the Kaiser Award in the UCSF Fresno Program include: Roger Larson, MD, and first-time Kaiser Award recipient (1981), Steven Parks (1993 and 2001), and Justin L. Williams, MD (2002).

UCSF Fresno Graduation Event Details

Time: 6:30pm award program
Date: Thursday, June 5
Place: Copper River Country Club
11500 North Friant Road
Fresno, California

UCSF Fresno Background
UCSF Fresno Medical Education Program trains over 175 medical residents every year in seven specialty areas including: obstetrics/gynecology, psychiatry, family medicine, internal medicine, emergency medicine, pediatrics, and surgery. Each year, over 60 medical residents graduate from UCSF Fresno. UCSF Fresno has educated one in three Valley doctors in the seven specialty fields that they provide training for.