New Associate Residency Program Directors Appointed for General Surgery Residency Program

We are pleased to announce the appointment of three new Associate Residency Program Directors for our general surgery residency program: Rita Mukhtar, MD as Associate Residency Program Director for Curriculum; Wen Shen, MD, MA as Associate Residency Program Director for Resident Professional Development; and Lan Vu, MD as Associate Residency Program Director for Assessment. All three appointments will be effective January 1, 2021.

As the Associate Residency Program Director for Curriculum, Dr. Mukhtar will be primarily responsible for the curriculum of the general surgery residency program. She will have a key role in ensuring our curriculum is undergoing needed innovation and maintains a rigorous plan for program evaluation and quality improvement. Dr. Mukhtar will work with the Director of the Surgical Skills Lab as well as other educators to ensure a quality curriculum.

Dr. Mukhtar is a general and breast oncologic surgeon. She currently practices acute care general surgery and breast surgery. Her research interests are in genetic causes of breast cancer, prevention, and treatment.

Dr. Mukhtar completed her undergraduate education at UC Berkeley, where she studied music and molecular biology. She attended medical school at UCSF and remained at UCSF for general surgery residency. During her residency, she completed a two-year post-doctoral research fellowship focusing on the role of inflammatory cells in breast cancer outcomes, funded by the California Breast Cancer Research Program. After residency, she completed a fellowship in breast oncologic surgery while serving as a clinical instructor in general surgery.

As the Associate Residency Program Director for Resident Professional Development, Dr. Shen will have a key role in ensuring our residents have opportunities that address their personal and professional development and well-being.

Dr. Shen is a Professor of Surgery in the Endocrine Surgery Section, specializing in operations of the thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal glands. He treats patients primarily at the UCSF/Mt. Zion Medical Center and the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dr. Shen earned a bachelor's degree in history and science from Harvard University, graduating magna cum laude. He earned his medical degree at UCSF, where he also completed his surgical residency, research fellowship in endocrine surgery, and Masters' degree in the History of Medicine.

As the Associate Residency Program Director for Assessment, Dr. Vu will have a key role in ensuring our assessment system provides needed data to develop a trajectory of professional development for each learner.

Dr. Vu is a pediatric surgeon at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital in San Francisco. Dr. Vu is the director of Long-term Infant to adult Follow-up and Evaluation (LIFE) program, a multidisciplinary team that provides care to patients with complex surgical congenital anomalies.

Born in Vietnam, Dr. Vu immigrated to the United States in 1981. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from UC Berkeley and her medical degree from UCSF, where she stayed for residency. During her training, she completed a master's degree in Clinical Research. She returned to UCSF as faculty after completing a fellowship at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.

We would like to thank Drs. Lygia Stewart and Ryutaro Hirose for their excellent leadership and commitment to our general surgery residents. We will celebrate their contributions at a date when we can gather in person. We thank Dr. Linda Reilly for her continued leadership as the Program Director and Dr. Kenzo Hirose, who will transition to the role of Program Director in April 2021.

Thanks also go to Drs. Adnan Alseidi and Patricia O'Sullivan for co-chairing our search committee and to the members of the committee.

Please join us in congratulating Drs. Mukhtar, Shen, and Vu on their new leadership roles!