Neelesh Kenia, MD
"The practice of medicine is education. It’s an honor to educate not only patients, but colleagues and future physicians, with the hope that these teachings help us all provide even better care."
His medical assistants often joke that Dr. Kenia always has an “entourage” in tow, from pediatric and family practice physicians, to residents, medical students, and even college and high school students, who accompany him in his pediatric and sports medicine practice.
Much of Dr. Kenia’s teaching career has been dedicated to helping fellow physicians better care for children and young adults with sports-related ailments and injuries. “In our primary care medical education, we don’t receive a lot of sports medicine training,” says Dr. Kenia. “I’m passionate about helping fill that knowledge gap.”
Covering topics ranging from joint exams and growth plate injuries to injury prevention and concussion care, Dr. Kenia has given countless grand rounds at his medical center and beyond, as well as moderated and served as faculty for regional CME webinars and conferences, including one for the American Academy of Pediatrics.
When California passed state law AB25 in 2012, which requires that student athletes with a suspected head injury or concussion be cleared by a health care provider before returning to the activity, Dr. Kenia helped develop a decision tool in our electronic health record system to help physicians evaluate these patients. He also cochaired a conference to educate TPMG colleagues about changes in concussion care workflows based on the new law, and has been coleading the regional concussion task force ever since.
Dr. Kenia also serves as an assistant clinical professor at University of California, San Francisco, where he’s been teaching since 2004, and was KP San Francisco’s Continuity Clinic site director for UCSF pediatric residents for 7 years, until 2018.
“Dr. Kenia has a contagious warmth, generous spirit, and unbridled enthusiasm for teaching,” says Ingrid Lim, MD, chief of CME at KP San Francisco. “It’s no wonder he is adored by all.”