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News Release — May 13, 2002
MEDICAL BOARD OF CALIFORNIA
May 13, 2002
Gary Gitnick, M.D. Elected New President of
Medical Board of California
SACRAMENTO-The Medical Board of California has elected as its new President Gary Gitnick, M.D., of Los Angeles to be President at its meeting in Orange County on May 9, 2002. He succeeds outgoing President Bernard S. Alpert, M.D., of San Francisco.
Dr Gitnick, Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Digestive Diseases at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine, was appointed to the Medical Board in April 2000 by Governor Gray Davis. He heads the largest gastroenterology division in the world with 60 full-time faculty members, 200 employees and a multimillion dollar budget.
Dr. Gitnick is the founder and president of the Fulfillment Fund, a nonprofit organization composed of over 1,000 adult volunteers who each year serve as mentors for over 3,000 bright, disadvantaged or disabled students, motivate them to complete school, broaden their socioeconomic horizons, and facilitate their higher education through motivational and tutoring programs and through college scholarships. The Fulfillment Fund is the largest private provider of college scholarships in California.
Upon his election, Dr. Gitnick immediately announced his ambitious plans for comprehensive assessment of the operations of the Medical Board. He urged the Board's members and staff to "avoid arrogance and strive for mutual respect and integrity," and outlined the following six-point plan to be implemented by the creation of new Board committees, emphasizing "the Board's first priority - patient protection."
- Development of an outstanding public notification system, to advance the Board's media relations and public outreach
- Strict oversight of the Board's licensing and enforcement functions to assure that they are operating at full capacity to protect patients
- Development, working with the Legislature, of a plan for the provision of healthcare for all Californians, regardless of economic status
- Recertification plans for specialty boards and schools certified by the Medical Board, to assess their continuing relevance and efficacy
- Provision of a patient information system regarding the malpractice insurance status of physicians
- Recognition of excellence in the healthcare delivery system by individual physicians, exemplified by volunteerism, heroism, service beyond the call of duty, brilliance in medicine, or other acts of excellence
Dr. Gitnick received his Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Medicine degrees at the University of Chicago, after which he completed an internship at Johns Hopkins University Hospital. From there he completed Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology subspecialty training at the Mayo Clinic and also spent three years as a Research Associate at the National Institutes of Health. He joined the faculty at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1969. He was Chief of Staff of the UCLA Medical Center and was Medical Director of the UCLA Health Care Programs. He has produced over 300 publications and is the author or editor of 62 books including the textbooks "Principles and Practices of Gastroenterology and Hepatology" and "Diseases of the Liver and Biliary Tract."
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The Medical Board of California is the state agency responsible for licensing and regulating physicians in this state.
www.medbd.ca.gov
Information about specific physicians: (916) 263-2382
Complaint line: (800) 633-2322
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