Dr. Malcolm John: So I am the director of 360: The Positive Care Center at UCSF and we are at general HIV practice. I have been here, about 23 years, I think since 1984, one of the oldest HIV clinics in the country. And in general, we provide primary HIV care for those who are infected with HIV.
We also do consultations. So a patient or a provider who is taking care of an HIV patient can send them or refer themselves here, for a second opinion or for a review of a complicated case, particularly given today there are so many medications to choose from, as patients go through different treatment strategies.
We also can take care of at risk HIV negative patients. We have a very small percentage of that. So often times partners of some of our patients and so forth.
"Why do you choose to practice this medical specialty?"
Well, I think I always was interested in HIV one, because it effected the African-American population and two, I saw it as the epidemic of our time regardless and there was a lot of interesting clinical and academic meaning research work going on. It was just being part a fight against the epidemic. I just felt I need to do that. I also like infectious diseases, in general my families from the Caribbean when I traveled as a kid.
So for me being an infectious disease doctor and with the specialty in HIV just made a lot of sense. I did my fellowship in infectious disease here. Great city from infectious disease is even greater for HIV, because of the history and the epicenter. A lot of great researchers and faculty here, at UCSF were part of the Aids Research Institute, which is one of the premier Aids Research Institutes in the world and really allowed me and my training to work with some fabulous people.s
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