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General Medicine and Bioethics Research | Department of Internal Medicine | UC Davis Health

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General Medicine and Bioethics

General Medicine and Bioethics Research

Dr. Erin Noren presents a poster at the 2025 Internal Medicine Research Symposium to a man in a blue shirt.

The UC Davis Health Division of General Medicine and Bioethics is committed to improving patient outcomes and quality of care through innovative research that meets current community needs. Our research addresses health outcome disparities, the primary care provider shortage, opioid addiction and pain management, while prioritizing patient autonomy and ensuring adherence to bioethical standards. Funding for our research is provided by the National Institute for Health (NIH), the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the National Institute on Aging (NIA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Medical Association (AMA), and UC Davis Health. 

Some of our current research projects include investigating: 

  • Overdose in patients co-prescribed opioids and benzodiazepines.
  • Tobacco control policy and cessation, focusing on health services delivery of tobacco treatment, interventions to address tobacco/cancer disparities, and the behavioral impact of smoke and tobacco-free policies.
  • Accelerated competency-based education in primary care programs to address the primary care provider shortage.
  • Disparities in rural health and education in Northern California and Oregon (COMPADRE).
  • Guideline-recommended diabetes testing after gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) (SUNRISE).
  • Motivational determinants of postpartum lifestyle behaviors, weight retention, and metabolic syndrome (PETALS-2).
  • The effects of visit characteristics on patient-clinician interactions and health outcomes in knee osteoarthritis.
  • The role of bilingualism in cognitive resilience, aging and dementia.
Research Spotlight

Addressing the Primary Care (PC) Physician Shortage

As the region’s only academic health center, a core mission of UC Davis is to meet the Primary Care (PC) workforce needs of California’s rural and urban counties. 

Learn more
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General Medicine and Bioethics News
Latest Publications
  • August 2026

    Healthcare Utilization and Economic Analysis of an Internal On-Demand Telehealth Service for Upper Respiratory Infections

    On-demand telehealth services are available to improve access and convenience of care, with some expectation that these visits may replace scheduled video visits and in-person visits. As on-demand telehealth becomes integrated into healthcare delivery models, there is a need to evaluate its impact on access, utilization, and charges.

    Moghaddamziabari, S., Haynes, S. C., Romano, P. S., Xing, G., Khounani, T. P., Stein, D., Black, D. W., & Marcin, J. P. Healthcare utilization and economic analysis of an internal on-demand telehealth service for upper respiratory infections. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare 2026; (online ahead of print). doi.org/10.1177/1357633X261474287
    Open Access
  • August 2026

    Building Tobacco Treatment Capacity and Sustainability: A Qualitative Study on Implementation of Community Pharmacy Technicians as Community Health Workers

    Community pharmacies are increasingly providing health care services like tobacco treatment and disease-related management but need sustainable models for implementation. As several state Medicaid programs reimburse for community health worker services, one promising model is to have pharmacy technicians engage with patients as designated community health workers.

    Valencia CV, Corelli RL, Tu S-P, Gosdin MM, Tong EK. Building Tobacco Treatment Capacity and Sustainability: A Qualitative Study on Implementation of Community Pharmacy Technicians as Community Health Workers. Pharmacy 2026; 14(5):114. doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy14050114
    Open Access
  • July 2026

    Advancing Environmental Sustainability in Health Care: Evaluating and Prioritising Sustainability Measures for Quality Reporting and Improvement

    Achieving environmentally sustainable health systems represents a crucial objective for both planetary and human health. This work presents the first proposed list of environmental measures for use in quality reporting and a pathway for integrating environmental sustainability measures into existing quality measurement frameworks.

    Michael Padget, Gregg Furie, Dionne Kringos, Patrick S Romano, Jonathan E Slutzman. Advancing environmental sustainability in health care: evaluating and prioritising sustainability measures for quality reporting and improvement. The Lancet Planetary Health 2026; 10(7):101501. doi.org/10.1016/j.lanplh.2026.101501
    Open Access
  • July 2026

    Development of a Virtual Transition Program for Adolescents and Young Adults With Type 1 Diabetes: Three-Stage User-Centered Design Study

    Adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) face a heightened risk of care gaps and preventable complications during the transition from pediatric to adult care. Using a human-centered virtual transition, this intervention addressed priorities identified by adolescents and young adults, peer mentors, and clinicians, including peer support, judgment-free discussion, and self-advocacy.

    Haynes SC, Romano PS, Lopez S, Conboy Heiser E, Reggiardo A, Kwan BM, Morrato EH, Rosenthal JL, Sarkisian M, Leon A, Plante D, and Crossen SS. Development of a Virtual Transition Program for Adolescents and Young Adults With Type 1 Diabetes: Three-Stage User-Centered Design Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research: Pediatrics and Parenting 2026; 9:e91543. doi:10.2196/91543
  • July 2026

    Not Yet Ready for Internship: National Study Exploring Readiness for Postgraduate Training in Multiple Specialties by Types of Medical School

    This retrospective study compares postgraduate year one competency assessments for graduates from different types of medical schools in internal medicine, family medicine, surgery, and pediatrics who graduated in 2021 and 2022.

    Sally A Santen, Jose A Negrete Manriquez, Yoon Soo Park, Eric Holmboe, Michael S Ryan, Sean O Hogan, and Tonya Fancher. Not yet ready for internship: national study exploring readiness for postgraduate training in multiple specialties by types of medical school, Academic Medicine, 2026; wvag186. doi.org/10.1093/acamed/wvag186
    Open Access
  • July 2026

    Implementation Science Analysis of Potential Organizational Settings for Young Adult–Tailored Diabetes Prevention Interventions

    This study aims to improve young adult engagement in diabetes prevention, as tailored interventions in nonclinical settings are needed. This qualitative study concludes that community colleges had highest appropriateness, acceptability, and feasibility for young adult diabetes prevention interventions. Young adult-serving community-based organizations had moderate promise but would require significant support to innovate in this area.

    Abigail R.O. Arons, Mai Baalbaki, Nicole Ozuna-Resendiz, Courtney R. Lyles, AmyL. Beck; Implementation Science Analysis of Potential Organizational Settings for Young Adult–Tailored Diabetes Prevention Interventions. Diabetes, Obesity, and CardioMetabolic CARE 2026; 1(4):649-659. doi.org/10.2337/doc26-0070
    Open Access
  • July 2026

    Evaluation of a Proactive Outreach Strategy for Tobacco Treatment by a Student-Run Clinic for Asian Americans: A Retrospective Observational Study

    This retrospective observational study evaluates a proactive outreach strategy for tobacco treatment by a student-run clinic for Asian Americans. During the COVID pandemic shut-down, the Paul Hom Asian Clinic cardiopulmonary team conducted proactive outreach to 11% of PHAC patients who smoke or are exposed to smoke. Nearly a quarter were contacted and about a quarter accepted a referral to the free Asian Smokers Quitline (operated by UCSD's quitline, Kick It California). These findings highlight the potential for student-run clinics to deliver culturally and linguistically tailored interventions to underserved populations.

    Conan Hiromitsu Lee, Ryan Lin, Jingyanshan Li, Samantha Wong, Ronald Jan, Elisa K Tong. Evaluation of a proactive outreach strategy for tobacco treatment by a student-run clinic for Asian Americans: A retrospective observational study. Tobacco Prevention and Cessation 2026;12(July):35. doi.org/10.18332/tpc/217701
    Open Access
  • July 2026

    Telehealth Is Here to Stay—Let’s Make It Equitable

    Health systems should monitor the use of telehealth by patient preferences, taking a universal design approach, to ensure a disparity gap is not being created among patients. Given that smartphones are prolific, ensuring that telehealth platforms interface well with mobile devices is important and would help decrease the disparity between those who have limited access to a computer and broadband internet. Also ensuring that health portals are available in Spanish (and other languages) to help with logging on and connecting to virtual appointments would likely improve adoption of use.

    Chatterton, B., Jimenez, A. & Fancher, T.L. Telehealth Is Here to Stay—Let’s Make It Equitable. Journal of General Internal Medicine 2026. doi.org/10.1007/s11606-026-10599-w
    Open Access
  • June 2026

    Understanding Accelerated 3-year MD Program Graduates: Key Considerations for Residency Directors

    The proliferation of accelerated 3-year MD programs presents both challenges and opportunities for residency program directors in evaluating applicants. Despite the differences in their applications, including limited extracurricular activities and time for visiting rotations, these applicants have been found to perform similarly in standardized testing and residency milestones, and have similar well-being and satisfaction as traditional students. This perspective outlines key considerations for PDs and provides a foundation for contextually evaluating the increasing numbers of these applicants graduating from accelerated 3-year MD programs.

    Alicia Gonzalez-Flores, Sally A Santen, Lisa Strano-Paul, Annette C Reboli, Catherine L Coe, Karen A Friedman, Joan Cangiarella, Betsy G Jones, Peter Nalin, Debaroti Tina Mullick Borschel, Matthew L Hunsaker, and Judith Brenner. Understanding Accelerated 3-year MD Program Graduates: Key Considerations for Residency Directors, Academic Medicine, 2026, wvag197. doi.org/10.1093/acamed/wvag19
    Open Access
  • June 2026

    Gender Discrimination and Personal and Professional Development Fostered by Allopathic Medical Schools in the United States

    Despite prevalent gender discrimination in medical education, its influence on personal and professional development, foundational competencies in medical training per the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), remains unclear. This retrospective cross-sectional study assesses how experiences of gender discrimination in medical school influence personal and professional identity formation among males and females.

    Shruthi Venkataraman, Mytien Nguyen, Sarwat I. Chaudhry, Mayur M. Desai, Tonya L. Fancher, Alexandra M. Hajduk, Hyacinth R. C. Mason, Alexis Webber, and Dowin Boatright. Gender Discrimination and Personal and Professional Development Fostered by Allopathic Medical Schools in the United States. PLoS One 2026; 21(6): e0319549. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0319549
    Open Access