Committed to Compassionate Care

Rebecca Rosen reflects on her medical career why

“I wanted to be a doctor since I was 5 years old,” said Rebecca Rosen, M.D., clinical professor in the Department of Family Medicine at University of California San Diego School of Medicine.

Despite her resolve to become a doctor, the road to medicine was not a textbook journey for Rosen. Organic chemistry almost derailed her plans, but instead of admitting defeat she took some time off from pre-med classes and pursued a French major, spent two years living in France growing and learning about who she really was and discovering what she wanted to do with her life.

“When I returned from France, while finishing my prerequisites for medical school, I worked as a psychiatry technician in an in-patient unit for children (ages 6-12).” Rosen remembered. “I saw a different side of medicine that I had never heard about or seen before. These children and their families were really struggling, and the system could only support them for short periods of time. I felt a strong need to do something in medicine to help both children and their families within the context of their communities.”

Rosen trained in full spectrum family medicine at Natividad Family Medicine Residency in Salinas, California. Since then, she has dedicated her life to providing comprehensive and compassionate care with a commitment to patient advocacy and genuine relationship building. She was recently honored with the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award presented by The Arnold P. Gold Foundation. The award recognizes humanism in health care, which the foundation defines as compassionate, collaborative, and scientifically excellent care.

“Dr. Rosen is a caring doctor, who embodies the best of family medicine,” said Ellen Beck, M.D. clinical professor of family medicine, who nominated Rosen for the award. “She addresses the emotional as well as the physical needs of her patients. She is mature, open-minded, and highly ethical in all that she does. She is culturally humble, self-aware, and communicates to patients with kindness and understanding. She advocates for their rights and is there with them during some of the most challenging moments of their lives.”

Rosen, who also serves as the associate program director of the Department of Family Medicine’s residency program, strives to model compassionate and empathetic care, encouraging the resident physicians to see their patients in their full humanity.

“Our family medicine attendings role model in both in-patient and out-patient settings, this includes teaching how to listen and be attentive to our patients,” said Rosen. “We model talking points and shared decision making, and we provide direct feedback to the residents during teaching sessions. We are here to teach medicine, but we are also trying to emphasize empathy and understanding.”

Specializing in family medicine has allowed Rosen to embrace her favorite part of being a physician, fostering long lasting patient-physician relationships. Being able to provide “womb to tomb” comprehensive care allows for trust to grow.

“I approach each patient as an individual and use shared decision making, taking into account their psycho-social context,” said Rosen, who also speaks French and Spanish, allowing her to connect with some of her patients in their native tongue. “Patients know that they can talk to me about anything: from depression and anxiety; to reproductive health including pregnancy, post-partum care, birth control or abortion; to better sleep, blood pressure control, diabetes, and cancer diagnoses; to family dynamics and any other life stressors or joys. The trust is there, and my patients know that my office door is always open.”