June 9, 2025 By Hannah Fairbanks On April 18, 2025, the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care hosted the 8th annual UC San Francisco Students Capturing the OR Experience, or SCORE, program. Since 2018, the SCORE program has provided San Francisco high schoolers from underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds with hands-on experience and exposure to career options in healthcare. Conceived of and led by Charlene Blake, MD, PhD, SCORE provides an enriching and rewarding experience for both the students and volunteers. This year, after a robust recruiting of students, a multidisciplinary team of mentors led OR tours, spoke with the students, gave presentations, and provided guidance at various hands-on learning stations, including for intubation, mechanical ventilation, organs, vital signs, ultrasound, resuscitation, perfusion/cardiopulmonary bypass, TEE/transesophageal echocardiography (led by Dr. Agya Prempeh), and knot tying. In a testament to their dedication to the students and to the power of the SCORE Program, many of the VIP speakers and other participants have volunteered their time and energy to SCORE since its inception. VIP speakers included UCSF School of Medicine Dean Talmadge King, MD; Senior Nurse Anesthetist Supervisor Mardochee Val, CRNA; Professor in the UCSF Department of Pathology Henry Sanchez, MD, MS; Orthopaedic Surgical Oncologist Kiauntee Murray, MD; Preop/PACU Assistant Director Brook Bracey, RN; and UCSF Medical Student MS3 Liam St. Hilaire, who also serves as the incoming director of SCORE Alumni. These fantastic speakers shared their career journeys with the students, discussing both successes and barriers they encountered along the way. Anthony Amaro, Director of the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) Program at the UCSF Center for Science Education and Outreach and Director of Students for SCORE, provided the students with a wealth of practical information and resources for entering the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) pipeline. During the guided OR tours, students witnessed live patient care in action and the dynamic and fast-paced perioperative environment. Severinghaus Assistant Professor of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care Odmara Barreto Chang, MD, PhD served as Director of the Operating Room Experience. The tours are always an impactful element of the program. The OR group leaders included Senior Nurse Anesthetist Fiona Langley, CRNA; Anesthesia Resident Nate Miller, MD; Senior Nurse Anesthetist Emily Montemagno, CRNA; Albert Yen, MD; Senior Nurse Anesthetist Jeff Nakamura, CRNA; Director of Liver Transplant Anesthesia Kate Kronish, MD; Vanessa Henke, MD; Dahlia Townsend, MD; and Senior Nurse Anesthetist Sean Sampson, CRNA, who kept the students engaged during the operating room experience. Senior Nurse Anesthetist Christina Martindale, CRNA, served as Director of Logistics. Student participants completed pre- and post-event surveys with questions about their awareness of careers in healthcare outside of MD/RN; the likeliness of pursuing a career that requires more school after college; whether they are likely to pursue a career in healthcare; their current interest in pursuing higher education in the UC system; whether they have role models for their career aspirations; their awareness of healthcare internships available to high school students; and their interest in the SCORE Together program, a longitudinal mentorship program that connects high school participants to internships and opportunities in health care. A huge thank you to all the incredible volunteers who helped make this year’s event a success. SCORE 2025 Volunteers Albert Yen, Elizabeth Sullivan, Emily Montemagno, Fiona Langley, Kate Kronish, Tristan Howard, Vanessa Henke, Menie Yip, Brook Bracey, Isabel Alves de Lima, Leah Pimentel, Agya Prempeh, Adrian Martinez, Ashish Agrawal, Charlene Blake, Christina Martindale, Dahlia Townsend, Jeff Nakamura, Kep Jones, Liam St. Hilaire, MJ Paras, Nate Miller, Nyemachi Chikere, Odmara Barreto Chang, Sean Sampson, Victoria Liu, Kaveh Hevati, Mardochee Val. SCORE 2025 Planning Committee Members Anthony Amaro, Odmara Barreto Chang, Charlene Blake, Christina Martindale, Agya Prempeh, Gus Pangan, Will Kellogg, Odi Ehie, Stefan Brown, Janaya Jones, Vanessa Henke, Leah Pimentel, Isabel Alves de Lima. Get Involved Want to get involved or support this work? Reach out to Will Kellogg.
Nov 5, 2025 Anesthesia Department Honors Dia de Los Muertos with an Ofrenda Announcement Opportunity and Impact
