Dr Clifford Harris attended medical school at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) and completed his residency in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Oakland. After residency, Dr Harris worked as a primary care pediatrician and as associate clinical professor of pediatrics at UCSF.

In 2001, after ten years of clinical practice, he moved into hospital administration and began to collaborate with fundraisers to build stronger connections between physicians and the development office. This evolved into a full time role and he became the first “Medical Director of Philanthropy” at Children’s Hospital Oakland, a position that included directing efforts to engage physicians in fundraising and also managing a portfolio of major gift prospects. In 2007, he moved to Stanford Medicine, where he developed a robust curriculum for training and coaching physicians in grateful patient philanthropy.

Dr Harris has been a featured speaker at conferences of the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP) and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) on engaging physicians in philanthropy and the ethics of grateful patient fundraising. He has also published articles on these subjects.

 Presentation Synopsis 
Grateful Patient Philanthropy

Dr Harris will discuss the theory and practice of grateful patient philanthropy, with emphasis on the role of the clinician. He will share his background and the transition he made from clinician to full time medical fundraiser; the impact of philanthropy on medical centre missions; how physicians and other clinicians can play a vital role in the success of patient fundraising; how facilitating philanthropic giving is a service to our patients; how donors view the process of giving; and how to foster a culture of philanthropy.