What People are Saying

  • “Your work can start the long process of opening hearts and minds to what is, in order to make changes that are long-lasting and substantive…. Love to you as you persist.  Persist and win for justice.”

    Melanie Tervalon, MD, MPH, nationally and internationally renowned physician, educator, community activist, thought leader, and architect of the “cultural humility” framework, commenting on the potential impact of this work.

  • “The California Chapter [California Academy of Family Physicians] offers enthusiastic support for Dr. Mihal Emberton for the 2021 AAFP Public Health Award. Dr. Emberton has been dedicated to addressing some of our most pressing public health issues related to racism, bias and burnout for more than 25 years. Her commitment goes beyond addressing the patient care implications of these issues, to unraveling the underpinnings of human learning and social justice. Dr. Emberton’s work includes developing a Belief-Behavior Systems Archetype framework. This groundbreaking work seeks to reconcile multidisciplinary theories and insights into a unifying paradigm which explains how socialization evolved into the patterns that we recognize today. This work has implications for health policy, medical education, and physician burnout. Through this work, Dr. Emberton has provided leadership in addressing health equity and beginning to address the intractable public health crisis of racism and bias.”

    David Bazzo, MD, 2021 President of the California Academy of Family Physicians, in support of this work for the 2021 AAFP (American Academy of Family Physicians) Public Health Award.

  • “I am a colleague and admirer of Dr. Emberton’s work which is prodigious and breaks new ground.  It is rare that one is treated to a new paradigm which alters one’s thinking in such a profound way.  Such has been my experience with Dr. Emberton’s Belief-Behavior Systems Archetype.  Her articulation of the autocratic and democratic mindsets has deep and widespread applicability.  In the medical field, it helps us understand physician burnout, medical racism, problems with patient-physician communication, and difficulties in physician education and supervision.  The paradigm also has broad applicability to the world of business, politics, policing and more.  Its widespread adoption could help us solve so many of today’s most pressing problems... The research and deep thinking required to develop this paradigm has required many hours of difficult effort.  Like most groundbreaking research there are some who do not want to abandon the status quo for the new understanding.   Dr. Emberton has had to overcome detractors and even attacks.  Her deep commitment to social justice and her passion for this work has carried her through and thankfully for all of us she has prevailed.”

    Jeff Ritterman, MD, cardiologist and social justice advocate who cofounded The Committee for Health Rights in Central America, The Salvadoran Medical Relief Fund, and the Southern Africa Medical Aid Fund, championed the Belief-Behavior Systems Archetype© for the 2021 BioInnovation Institute and Science Prize for Innovation.

  • “I just wanted to say thank you for speaking up and being undaunted in expressing your opinions at today’s DAC [Diversity Advisory Council] meeting.  You were by far the best part of the meeting and your viewpoint was most appreciated.  I want to see less complacency here at Summa and it is only through thoughtful questions and authentic dialogue that we can move forward as an organization.  I also want to be part of an inclusive organization and was disappointed to hear that the options for health care that are available to me are not available to you and your wife.  Thank you again for being unafraid and I hope to see you in July if not sooner.”

    Michael Dalton, Advocacy Manager of Summa Foundation at Akron City Hospital in Ohio in 2011, commenting on my efforts to refine a hospital domestic partner policy that was supposed to provide health benefits to domestic partners but instead denied health benefits to my wife

  • “We could not be having these conversations or feeling the excitement associated with this project were it not for your vision and energy and willingness to reach out to us.  Your work is now catalyzing a much larger effort to invest in the relationships that will bring your vision to fruition and sustain it over time.”

    Bill Lyons, PhD, Director of The Center for Conflict Management, Associate Dean of Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Akron, and professor, commenting on our 2010 collaboration to develop an educational series about overcoming unconscious bias.

  • "Dr. Emberton has been a huge inspiration to me this past year, not only because of her compassionate care and wonderful manner with patients and students, but mostly because of her philosophy of teaching. She has a wonderfully refreshing avant-garde approach to teaching that places the student at the center of her/his own assessment. She built our FCM curriculum around our ability to LEARN rather than our ability to work. If we felt we were better suited by seeing higher volume of patients one day, so be it. If we felt we were better suited by seeing one or two and thoroughly researching and working on our clinical thinking and note-writing, that was what the day became. It was so refreshing to feel in control of my own learning, and made me an active participant in my self-evaluation.  What signals most potently to me that she was a successful teacher is that I felt that this was my most productive clerkship of the year. By this I mean that the skills she spent endless hours supporting me to hone (such as writing notes, presenting succinctly in front of patients, performing focused PE, etc) she made applicable to all clerkships, to all sites, etc. Whereas the knowledge I gained in other clerkships was very useful, it was always and only practical to that clerkship alone, leaving me with little theory or true understanding of the purpose of (for example), the ROS vs HPI, the relevance of particular physical exam maneuvers, etc. All in all, I’ll remember Dr. Emberton forever as one of the most enthusiastic, genuinely invested, reliable, and kindest doctors who contributed to my training."

    UCSF Medical Student’s nomination for the 2019 UCSF Family & Community Medicine’s Excellence in Student Teaching Award, which recognizes a UCSF Faculty member for their unwavering passion for teaching, outstanding commitment to student education, and strong positive impact as a role model.