A Conversation with Sherry Chen

Tell us a little about yourself—your family and how you came to join the division.

I worked with Kat in the Division of Hospital Medicine from around 2015 to 2019. She was my supervisor and mentor, and we stayed friends and kept in touch after I moved to Hong Kong. After a few years of living abroad, my husband and I were thinking about moving back to San Francisco, and Kat mentioned that her new division, the DPM, might have a HR and Operations Administrator opportunity.

I applied, and I took the interview very seriously. I still remember Gayle being part of my interview panel, and despite it being conducted over Zoom, I dressed up and told my husband he had to take the baby outside so the apartment would be quiet. I felt very fortunate to be picked for the job, and that is how I joined the team.

At home, I live with my husband and our two kids. Our daughter Allie is four now, and our son, Bennie, is ten months old. Time really does fly!

You’ve had several roles at UCSF. What has your career path been like?

My path was a little non-traditional. I started out in DHM as a fellowship coordinator for the HEAL Initiative. After that, I really wanted to branch out and learn more about academic and university operations and was fortunate to be hired as an analyst for the research faculty. My portfolio also included the Academic Hospitalist fellowship and the Clinical Informatics fellowship.

Because I was part of the research team, I was very fortunate to have a faculty researcher include me in his PCORI PFAC research where I had the opportunity to engage in focus groups, perform qualitative data analysis, etc. At the time, it wasn’t the norm for the DHM staff to be integrated into a research project, so it was a big deal for me to be a published author on a paper.

When Hospital Medicine expanded to St. Francis and St. Mary’s, I became the operations manager for the hospitalist service at those sites. I didn’t have clinical operations on my résumé, and thought that was a stepping stone toward career advancement. I had this idea that I might want to become a Division Manager someday.

Then I left San Francisco for Hong Kong for a few years—and now here I am again! During my time at St. Mary’s I realized clinical operations wasn’t something I was interested in long-term. When I started looking for a job while moving back to San Francisco, I knew I wanted a job more geared towards campus/academic. Luckily it all worked out.

More recently, I moved into finance, which is very different compared to all my previous roles at UCSF. It’s challenging, but I like learning something new.  

Looking back, I feel very fortunate. I worked hard, but I also had incredible mentors and supervisors who supported my growth and encouraged me to pursue different opportunities.

It sounds like you’ve lived all over the place. Tell us about the moves—and what your favorite place has been.

I was born in Taiwan, and then immigrated to the US when I was 7 years old and grew up in Maryland in the suburbs of DC. It was always a dream of mine to move out to California because I had the impression that life was better out there in terms of the weather, and having that Asian-American lifestyle. During the years that I lived in Maryland, it wasn’t very diverse, but that has changed dramatically now.

I attended a small liberal arts graduate program in Monterey, CA, and obtained a Masters in Public Administration. After graduation, I moved to San Francisco. I loved living in San Francisco by myself exploring the city and the greater Bay Area on the weekends.

After I got married, my husband was recruited to Hong Kong for a job, so I eventually moved there in 2019. I lived in Hong Kong for about 3 years, and it coincided with the democracy protests and COVID. The lockdown was much stricter compared to the US, and I didn’t get an opportunity to travel across Asia. Instead, my husband and I decided to travel within Hong Kong and visited all the MTR sites (MTR is their public subway similar to BART, but a million times more efficient and cleaner). Living in Hong Kong was really convenient, and the food is incredible – really delicious and inexpensive. We decided to repatriate back to the States because of the small apartment sizes and the political unrest.

After a few years of living in SF a second time, we moved to Minneapolis for my husband’s job. Unfortunately, I realized that I really don’t like seasons and all the seasonal chores, such as shoveling snow, raking leaves, mowing the lawn, etc.

What’s your favorite food or a meal you’ve really enjoyed recently?

I really don’t know! I really love all kinds of food. If I had to choose, I would say Taiwanese cuisine is my favorite. I’m really picky about Taiwanese food, and the best Taiwanese restaurant in the Bay Area is Liang’s Village in Cupertino.

In general, I make my own Taiwanese food at home. One meal I make pretty often for my family is Lu Rou Fan, which is a braised pork belly dish. It’s one of my comfort foods, and something my mom makes for me often when I visit. My husband and kids love it when I make it, too!

Outside of being a mom of two and shoveling snow, what do you like to do to relax?

I have hobby aspirations right now because there aren’t enough hours in the day for me to take on hobbies in this season of my life. I took up crocheting a few years ago, making amigurumi, and then moved on to hats, baskets, scarves, etc. I made my daughter a Winnie the Pooh hat and a honey jar basket for Halloween a few years ago.

I also enjoy cooking. My favorite recipes are the one-pot dishes, and
“mom recipes” – recipes that only have a simple ingredient list, take less than 5 steps to make, and are done in 30 minutes or less.

When I was living in Hong Kong, I also briefly attempted to be a content creator… but that didn’t really work out because I was too shy to publicize my Instagram.

You’ve lived in Minnesota for over a year now. If we came to visit, where would you take us?

I haven’t gone to too many places because there are about six months of the year when I really don’t want to go outside due to the cold temperatures. I’ve heard good things of ice castles in the winter and the MN state fair in the summer but haven’t gotten around to doing those yet.

Downtown Minneapolis is really nice. It’s right along the Mississippi River and the local parks are beautiful. There are also a lot of lakes around the suburbs, and I enjoy riding bikes around the lake with my kids.

We’ve also gone up to the north shore of Lake Superior. It’s known for cabin life, skiing, and fall foliage. It’s really beautiful up there in the fall.

Are there other places in the Midwest you’d still like to visit?

Yes! I have this vision of taking a national parks road trip to visit the Badlands, Devil’s Tower, Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton. This is the closest I’ll ever live to those parks, so I feel like I should take advantage of it.

You hinted that you don’t plan to live in the Midwest forever. What’s next after Minneapolis?

We’re going back to California! We really didn’t want to leave in the first place. I think maybe in a few years we’ll find our way back.