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Gary Arsham received his undergraduate degree cum laude from Harvard College and received his medical

training at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and the University of Illinois Hospitals. He

then studied medical education as a Fellow at the University of Illinois Medical Center and the College of

Education. He received a PhD in educational psychology/medical education, specializing in instructional design

and development.

For the past 40+ years, Dr. Arsham has been active in the medical education world. After serving as Associate

Dean for Curriculum at the SUNY at Stony Brook School of Medicine, he came to San Francisco as part of a

team to develop an innovative school of health professions, which was found to be educationally feasible but

unfunded. ( See our planning documents and articles about the school at https://nexusipe.org/resource-exchange/developing-school-health-professions).

As chair of the Council on Education, he administered the residency training programs at what is

now California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC). During that time, he received the “Outstanding Instructional Product”

award from the National Society for Performance and Instruction, for an instructional system and materials he

developed as project director. A system of self-instructional materials in ophthalmology for medical students

was created, which was demonstrated to be effective in meeting clearly-defined performance-based objectives.

Since 1982 Dr. Arsham has operated a company that consults with institutions and pharmaceutical and

equipment manufacturers in the areas of medical and patient education. He has also been an active

investigator in developing training materials for patients, particularly in the areas of asthma and diabetes. He

has been co-investigator on 4 NIH-sponsored clinical trials, and has substantial experience in working with

IRB’s. He recently chaired the IRB at CPMC for 2 ½ years. He has authored, co-authored, or developed over

60 educational/scientific publications, including a best selling book on diabetes for the public, now in its 4th

edition (Diabetes: A Guide to Living Well). Dr. Arsham is a member of the Department of Medicine of California

Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco.

He has been an officer or board member of a variety of non-profit and voluntary health agencies, including the

American Diabetes Association (a member of their national board and President of the California Affiliate and

Western Region), the American Association of Diabetes Educators ( officer and executive committee member),

the Harvard Alumni Association (a member of their national board and President of the Harvard Club of San

Francisco), the United States-China Educational Institute(now Wildflowers Institute), and the Pacific Vision

Foundation. As a public member, he also served as Chair and CEO of the Accreditation Commission for

Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM, formerly NASCAOM), the only nationally recognized accrediting

body in the field. He was also a public member of the American Academy of Dietetics and Nutrition’s

Commission on Accreditation of Dietetic Education (CADE) for seven years.

In 2002, Dr. Arsham received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Association of Diabetes

Educators.