UCSF Fresno will celebrate the 2023 Resident and Fellow Commencement on June 15. Brandon J. Croft, MD, is completing a three-year residency training program in Internal Medicine at UCSF Fresno. After graduation, he will continue his education in the three-year UCSF Fresno Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship. By the time his graduate medical education is complete, he will have spent six years training at UCSF Fresno, but Dr. Croft’s first exposure to the UCSF School of Medicine regional campus in Fresno was 10 years ago in 2013. Prior to entering medical school, he worked in the UCSF Fresno Clinical Research Center and as a scribe with the UCSF Fresno Department of Emergency Medicine. Scribes are employed by Central California Faculty Medical Group and work with UCSF Fresno emergency medicine physicians to document patient information at Community Regional Medical Center.
A Visalia native, Dr. Croft attended El Diamante High School and graduated from Fresno Pacific University. He earned his medical degree from the UC Davis School of Medicine as a student in the San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education (SJV PRIME) Community Scholars Program.
Growing up in the San Joaquin Valley, he witnessed the lack of access to medical care and was inspired by the physicians who were constantly seeking to bring change to the way medicine is practiced in the underserved community where he grew up.
“My desire is to help bridge the gap in access to medical care,” he said. “It’s what sparked my interest in pursuing medicine.”
His interest in Pulmonary and Critical Care stems from the sub-specialty’s wide scope of practice. It involves acute care opportunities as well as the ability to follow patients longitudinally. The field also allows for various types of procedural interventions.
Starting residency at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic posed many emotional and mental health challenges for physicians in training and completing residency training during a global pandemic was no easy feat.
“One of the most difficult parts of my training was learning to balance self-care and the care of others,” said Dr. Croft. “This meant ensuring that I included things to improve my physical, mental, and emotional wellness. I would not have been able to do it without my wife.”
When not working, Dr. Croft enjoys spending time with his wife Amanda and running and cycling.
Training at UCSF Fresno gave him the opportunity to live out his goal of returning to the San Joaquin Valley as a medical provider and to create change that impacts his community.
“I know that the unique pathology is enticing to many who come to train at UCSF Fresno, but for me it is the people who I get to serve daily,” he said.
