Q&A with CHIBE External Advisory Board Member: Steven Schroeder, MD

Steven Schroeder, MD, a CHIBE External Advisory Board member and Director of the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center at University of California San Francisco (UCSF), was recently interviewed for a UCSF piece called “A Life in Medicine: People Shaping Health Care Today.” View the video interview here, and read our Q&A below.

Q: You’re known for being a great mentor. What advice or guidance did your mentor provide to you that was helpful?

I never really had a mentor, but I watched a lot of leaders very closely and tried to learn from them. In some cases they had characteristics that I was not capable of emulating but would have liked to. In other cases they exhibited behavior, such as not honoring commitments, that I tried never to emulate. And in some cases they showed me better ways of doing things that I could appropriate into my own behavior.

Q: What career achievement are you most proud of? 

As I mentioned in the interview, my greatest pride stems from our two adult sons. Regarding career, I have been very fortunate in having a lot of wonderful experiences. If forced to choose, I would select the founding of the Division of General Internal Medicine at UCSF in 1980.

Q: Tell us about a moment in your career when you failed and what you learned from that experience.

I was passed over for a job that I wanted, and it forced me to examine my priorities. I was offered leadership jobs in two other institutions, but there were issues surrounding those positions that caused me to stay where I was for a while.

Q: What excites you about the work CHIBE is doing? 

I am pleased that CHIBE tries to use the principles of behavioral economics to grapple with vexing social issues.