Louise Aronson, MD, MFA

Adjunct Professor
Medicine
+1 415 502-1000 ext. 14595

Louise Aronson, MD MFA, is a leading geriatrician, writer, educator, professor of medicine at UCSF and the author of the New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize finalist Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, and Reimagining Life. A graduate of Harvard Medical School, Dr. Aronson has received the Gold Professorship in Humanism in Medicine, the California Homecare Physician of the Year award, and the American Geriatrics Society Clinician-Teacher of the Year award. Her current work is focused on expanding geriatric care and public perceptions of old age to more accurately attend to the decades and diversity of elderhood, developing innovative programs and practices to empower older adults to retain agency and maximize wellness as they age. At UCSF, Louise has served as director of the Pathways to Discovery program, the Northern California Geriatrics Education Center, the Optimizing Aging Project, and as Chief of Geriatrics Education. Her writing credits include the New York Times, Atlantic, Washington Post, Discover, Vox, JAMA, Lancet, and the New England Journal of Medicine, and she has been featured on TODAY, CBS This Morning, NPR’s Fresh Air, Morning Edition, Politico, Kaiser Health News, Tech Nation and the New Yorker. Currently, Dr. Aronson divides her time among patient care, community-based aging innovations, teaching, health advocacy in the media, and writing.

Publications: 

The Perils of Artificial Intelligence in a Clinical Landscape.

JAMA internal medicine

Ostrer I, Aronson L

In Choosing Our Leaders, the Issue isn't Age But Ability

Wall Street Journal

Aronson L, Brender T

Introducing Inside Story, a New Section for JAMA Internal Medicine.

JAMA internal medicine

Aronson L, Grady D, Inouye SK

What could go wrong? Reflections and roadmap for successfully engaging with public media.

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Fohner AE, Whitson HE, Aronson L

Understanding Pandemic Experiences Among America's Elders.

Health affairs (Project Hope)

Aronson L, Kotwal A

Covid-19: a call for mobilizing geriatric expertise.

European geriatric medicine

O'Hanlon S, Dhesi J, Aronson L, Inouye SK

Recommendations for Welcoming Back Nursing Home Visitors During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results of a Delphi Panel.

Journal of the American Medical Directors Association

Bergman C, Stall NM, Haimowitz D, Aronson L, Lynn J, Steinberg K, Wasserman M

Walter L and Chang A. Lange Current Geriatrics

Integrative Geriatrics and Cannabis Use

Aronson L and Keyhani S

Healthy Aging Across the Stages of Old Age.

Clinics in geriatric medicine

Aronson L

Friedman, S. Clinics in Geriatrics Medicine

Healthy Aging Across the Stages of Old Age

Aronson L

Beyond a Moment - Reckoning with Our History and Embracing Antiracism in Medicine.

The New England journal of medicine

Paul DW, Knight KR, Campbell A, Aronson L

Age, Complexity, and Crisis - A Prescription for Progress in Pandemic.

The New England journal of medicine

Aronson L

Better Medical Care for the Elderly

Saturday Evening Post

Aronson L

Ageism Is Making the Pandemic Worse

The Atlantic

Aronson L

Covid19 Kills Only Old People. Only?

New York Times

Aronson L

Bylander, J. Narrative Matters: Writing to Change the Healthcare System

How health care fails older patients and how it can be done better

Aronson L

Act Three

Harvard Medicine Magazine

Aronson L

We Can Help Men Live Longer

New York Times

Aronson L

A Dire Diagnosis and Multiple Medications

Discover magazine

Aronson L

Evaluation of a Medical Student Research and Career Development Program to Increase Diversity in Academic Medicine.

Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges

Fernandez A, Chen V, Quan J, Martinez A, Flowers L, Aronson L

Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life

Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life.

Aronson L.

Don't Ruin My Life - Aging and Driving in the 21st Century.

The New England journal of medicine

Aronson L

Destroyed but Not Defeated

Lancet

Marchalik D, Aronson L.

Necessary Violence

New England Review

Aronson L

Stop Treating 70- and 90-Year Olds the Same

New York Times Sunday Review

Perspectives of low-income chronically ill patients on complex care management.

Families, systems & health : the journal of collaborative family healthcare

Mao AY, Willard-Grace R, Dubbin L, Aronson L, Fernandez A, Burke NJ, Finch J, Davis E

Case-Based Suffering.

Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges

Aronson L

Chronic care management for Medicare patients--reply.

JAMA

Bautista CA, Covinsky K, Aronson L

The human lifecycle's neglected stepchild.

Lancet (London, England)

Aronson L

Teaching geriatric fellows how to teach: a needs assessment targeting geriatrics fellowship program directors.

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Rivera V, Yukawa M, Aronson L, Widera E

New Buildings for Older People

New York Times

Aronson L.

Asking the right questions.

Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges

Aronson L

The future of robot caregivers

New York Times

Aronson L

Lancet

Examining empathy

Aronson L.

How do we tell the stories of medicine?

Lancet (London, England)

Aronson L

Current Geriatric Diagnosis and Treatment

Interprofessional Teams in Geriatrics.

Rivera J, Reeves S, Aronson L

Elder self-neglect--how can a physician help?

The New England journal of medicine

Smith AK, Lo B, Aronson L

"Good" patients and "difficult" patients--rethinking our definitions.

The New England journal of medicine

Aronson L

Weighing the end of life

New York Times

Aronson, L

A History of the Present Illness

A History of the Present Illness

Aronson, L

Bruinsma G and Weisburd D (Eds). Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice

Aging in Correctional Populations: Through the Geriatrician's Lens.

Williams B, Ahalt C and Aronson L.

A comparison of two methods of teaching reflective ability in Year 3 medical students.

Medical education

Aronson L, Niehaus B, Hill-Sakurai L, Lai C, O'Sullivan PS

J Am Geriatr Soc

The UCSF Interprofessional Aging and Palliative Care Elective.

Rivera J, Mackin L, Aronson L.

The UCSF Faculty Development Workshop on Critical Reflection in Medical Education: Training Educators to Teach and Provide Feedback on Learners’ Reflections. MedEdPORTAL/9086

The UCSF Faculty Development Workshop on Critical Reflection in Medical Education: Training Educators to Teach and Provide Feedback on Learners’ Reflections. MedEdPORTAL/9086.

Aronson L, Kruidering M, O'Sullivan P.

The UCSF LEaP: A Guide for Reflective Learning in Medical Education. MedEdPORTAL/9073

The UCSF LEaP: A Guide for Reflective Learning in Medical Education. MedEdPORTAL/9073.

Aronson L, Niehaus B, Kruidering M, O’Sullivan P.

Pressure ulcers in long-term care.

Clinics in geriatric medicine

White-Chu EF, Flock P, Struck B, Aronson L

Development and pilot testing of a reflective learning guide for medical education.

Medical teacher

Aronson L, Niehaus B, Lindow J, Robertson PA, O'Sullivan PS

Do writing and storytelling skill influence assessment of reflective ability in medical students' written reflections?

Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges

Aronson L, Niehaus B, DeVries CD, Siegel JR, O'Sullivan PS

MedEdPORTAL

Reflective Ability Rubric and User Guide

OSullivan P; Aronson L; Chittenden E; Niehaus B; Learman L

Why geriatrics?

Annals of internal medicine

Aronson L

A faculty development workshop in teaching reflection.

Medical education

Aronson L, Chittenden E, O'Sullivan P

Journal of Aging, Humanities and the Arts

The Ethics of Everyday Life

Aronson L

Osler’s Bedside Library: Great Literature from a Great Physician. LaCombe M (Ed.)

Osler, Plutarch and the Intimate Observation of Human Behavior

Aronson L

Medical linguistics.

Journal of general internal medicine

Aronson L

BARK

A New Breed of Magic: Canine Assistance in Alzheimer’s Care

Aronson L

San Francisco Chronicle

A City Full of the Hidden Homebound

Aronson L

San Francisco Chronicle

The Fear of Losing Who We Are.

Aronson L

Examining older people for carotid bruits: listen to your patient, not her neck.

Journal of general internal medicine

Aronson L, Landefeld CS

Traditional Cambodian health beliefs and practices

Rhode Island Medical Journal

Aronson L