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UC Davis School of Medicine

Faculty and staff

  Thomas S. Nesbitt, M.D., M.P.H., Associate Vice Chancellor for Strategic Technologies and Alliances, is a professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine specializing in rural health and the use of advanced telecommunications technologies to improve access to medical education and care. As founding director of the Center for Health and Technology, Nesbitt oversees UC Davis' telemedicine, distance learning and medical informatics programs. Dr. Nesbitt works closely with UC Office of the President, health-care policy leaders, and senior staff from the State of California to implement Proposition 1D and the California Telehealth Network. Proposition 1D, passed by California voters in November 2006, directs $200 million in building and equipment funds to the University of California to expand medical education with an emphasis in telemedicine
  Timothy E. Albertson, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., serves as the  Division Chief and Gordon A. Wong, M.D., Professor in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the UC Davis Health System; Interim Chair, Department of Internal Medicine; Medical Director of Clinical Care;  Professor of Medicine, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Anesthesia and Emergency Medicine.  Dr. Albertson received his medical training at the UC Davis Medical School and at the University of Arizona. Dr. Albertson assists Rural-PRIME with site development, assessment, and quality control.
  Donald M. Hilty, M.D., Director of Rural-PRIME was born and raised in rural Ohio, in a town with a population of 800. He is now a scholar in education, mood disorders, and technology applied to rural practice at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine. Dr. Hilty has a broad range of educational expertise, specializing in curricula, interactive teaching and applying psychiatry to the work of primary care physicians in rural settings. His research has focused on translating the most efficacious urban psychiatric treatments to effective treatments in underserved areas, by using telemedicine and other technologies for service delivery. 
  Sneha Patel, M.A. Oxon., Rural-PRIME Program Manager at UC Davis Health System, has a background specializing in strategic planning and project leadership in London, San Francisco, and Sacramento. Sneha, in her current role at UC Davis Health System, has management and planning responsibility for Rural-PRIME.  She has also managed special projects for the Center for Health and Technology at UC Davis, one of which was the planning and launch of Rural-PRIME in its infancy. Sneha leverages her background, spanning a range of industries from financial services to high-tech and healthcare, in the application of technology and innovation to solutions for healthcare access in rural California.
 

Patricia Keast, M.S., has been the Regional Affiliations Officer for UC Davis since 1998. Patricia has more than 30 years of experience in hospital and health care management, strategic and operational planning, and policy development. For the last sixteen years, she has worked almost exclusively with rural health care providers to develop strategic and business plans, prepare providers for managed care, and identify key partnership opportunities that support local health care systems.  As Regional Affiliations Officer, she is responsible for managing the UC Davis Community Hospital Network, developing collaborative programs with member hospitals, managing the UC Davis Cancer Care Network, and facilitating the implementation of Rural-PRIME.  In addition, Patricia oversees the UC Davis Center for Health and Technology research and grant activities.  
  Betsy Bencken, M.S., is Director of Operations at the Center for Virtual Care at the University of California, Davis, a position she has held for the past 5 years.  Her 30 years at the University of California, Davis have included appointments in the Departments of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Radiology and Pathology. Betsy is an experienced instructor with a multifaceted background in administration, academic education, biotechnology and pharmaceutical research.  She has presented in multiple simulation conferences using simulation and hybrid education as a foundation for advancing patient safety, focused on improving the quality of the care giver through advanced educational modalities with a focus on simulation.
  Rebecca Miller, Program Coordinator, joined Rural-PRIME after coordinating the Doctoring 2 Course in the 2nd year medical curriculum for three years.  She is able to integrate her knowledge of the curriculum, faculty and the students into her role as Rural-PRIME Coordinator. She works closely with the Program Director and Manager in implementing the program, assists with admissions and recruitment, serves as the liaison between the students and the Program and organizes the day-to-day activities of PRIME.