R. Jan Gurley

Physician-writer

Dr. Jan Gurley, a board-certified internist physician, is the only Harvard Medical School graduate, ever, to have been awarded the coveted Shoney’s Ten-Step Pin for documented excellence in waitressing. Her health/science background covers the vast territory from sub-cell systems, to human studies, to the captivating science of seeing patients one-on-one. Her training includes basic science research (graduating magna cum laude from Harvard), then a residency at UCSF in Internal Medicine, as well as a Robert Wood Johnson Fellowship (Stanford/UCSF Joint Program) in epidemiology, public health and public policy, followed by work as an administrator of large divisions of the San Francisco DPH where she currently sees patients in a clinic for the homeless. Doc Gurley’s health writing has appeared in Salon, The San Francisco Chronicle, and the Chronicle Sunday magazine, along with regular pieces in BlogHer, KevinMD and as one of SFGate's City Brights. Jezebel has called her "indispensible." Her research has appeared in academic publications including the New England Journal of Medicine. You can read more about her at www.docgurley.com.

Articles

Looking for Death on the Steets

<p>I went to needle exchange to hang out. You may be asking yourself what a soccer mom from the burbs is doing perched on a folding chair in the parking garage of 101 Grove on a dark November night, surrounded by syringes. I was there as a guest observer because I’m working on a series of articles a

Gunpowder on the street

One of the major challenges of treating overdoses is the helper's fear of law enforcement involvement.

Looking for death on the streets. And finding it.

<p>I went to needle exchange to hang out. You may be asking yourself what a soccer mom from the burbs is doing perched on a folding chair in the parking garage of 101 Grove on a dark November night, surrounded by syringes. I was there as a guest observer because I'm working on a series of articles about mortality and homelessness, as part of The California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowship I received.</p> <p>Basically, I was looking for death on the streets.</p>

Creating a storm for Haiti

<p>I have a new best friend. She's cool and smooth and adaptable. Kind of like a Dragon-Tattooed-urbanite who can deal with <em>any </em>situation, from a tweaking guest at a rave, to the post-modern gut-angst of intellectuals. She's slow to rile too - give her a nudge and all she does is gurgle at

Homeless mortality: Are 1 in a 100 San Franciscans dead at 50?

<p>San Francisco and the Bay Area is, in many ways, a microcosm of much of America. As a metaphor for the extremes of environmental wealth and poverty in America today, you can walk 10 short San Francisco blocks from 6th and Market to 1001 Taylor Street. In that short distance, your walk spans the divide between&nbsp;an area where&nbsp;homeless men lie in igloos of wool blankets as urine trickles down a crack in the sidewalk,&nbsp;up to where&nbsp;Grace Cathedral's soaring&nbsp;Ghiberti Doors, known as the gates of paradise, open over Nob Hill.

Health 2.0: What's The Next Generation of Online Health Communities

<p>The world of online health communities is morphing and evolving even as we sit here at our keyboards and google "flu symptoms" then tweet that we've got a cold. So what IS emerging from the cutting edge of online health communities? How do they differ and what do they have in common? The Health 2.0 conference presented an impressive array of new online breakout health community models. You can get the run-down on them <em>all</em> here. Check it out:</p>

Health 2.0: Building behavior change - what do you need to know?

<p>In the intersection of online communities and health, Health 2.0 focused a session on behavior change. With so many of our chronic diseases due to lifestyle choices, online communities and tools hold the promise to help people make small, hard, and sustained incremental steps. The session reviewed some recent approaches, and the key to their success.</p>

Haiti: Things Shift

<p>Even the predawn day began a little differently. The shrill distant stadium cheers of hundreds of Haitian roosters sounded oddly synchronized, as though perhaps they were doing the wave. There were more dogs keeping the beat with incessant, rhythmic barking.<br />