CHESA Fellow Spotlight: Liana Valeanu

Liana Valeanu is a cardiac anesthesiologist from Romania, who recently completed a 3-month observership at UCSF under the guidance of Dr. Maytinee Lilaonitkul, CHESA Associate Director of Education. During her time at UCSF, Liana participated in the WFSA Medical Education Simulation Fellowship and CHESA Fellowship, and garnered skills to enhance the capabilities of similar learning and simulation modules in Romania. Reflecting on her journey to this point, Liana expressed her passion for promoting equality in healthcare access globally, emphasizing the importance of sharing knowledge and resources across borders.

When describing the WFSA Fellowship opportunity Liana states, “When I applied for this fellowship in 2019, we just had our first simulation centers starting up in Romania following an international project. I was looking for some way to improve the capacity of our center to see how other people that have much more experience with simulation, how they use it to train their residents”. In conjunction with the start of her observership at UCSF, Liana joined the CHESA Fellowship Program in January 2024. She underscored the significance of global collaboration, noting, “I think that wherever we are in this huge world, it’s very important that we give similar healthcare to different people”.

Throughout her observership with UCSF, Liana noted the value of simulation training in medical education, stating, “I think that doing medical education through simulation is, in fact, a very fun way to learn.” She emphasized the importance of simulation in providing a safe learning environment, stating, “It’s for sure that during this type of training, the residents, fellows, and attendings feel that they are in a safe environment that actually allows them to make mistakes and to learn from their mistakes”.

Looking ahead, Liana expresses “together with Maytinee, we’ve developed a simulation program for Romanian anesthesia residents. And starting next year, we are going to do (in Romania) a national course for residents on how to use point of care ultrasound in anesthesia and then intensive care.” She also emphasized her dedication to global health initiatives, stating, “I’ve always wanted to get involved in this. I just didn’t find a way to do it until now. I’m committed and I have some time to dedicate to this also at this point.” As she prepares to return home, Liana expressed gratitude to the UCSF CHESA community for their support.

She concluded by reflecting on her overall experience, stating, “These three months that I spent here were absolutely great. I felt very welcome, both at UCSF, during the simulation sessions and during my clinical observership. People here are amazing and very nice.”