Sandra Hernández is president and CEO of the California HealthCare Foundation. She is also an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine and maintains a clinical practice at San Francisco General Hospital in the AIDS clinic. Before participating in a panel on what San Francisco can teach Obamacare, she offered her advice for aspiring physicians—as well as anyone aspiring to anything—in the Zócalo green room.
If you didn’t live in San Francisco, where would you be?
As in any place in the world? Probably Oaxaca, Mexico.
What was the last thing that inspired you?
One of my patients.
What’s your fondest childhood memory?
Playing with my grandmother in rural New Mexico.
What do you eat for breakfast?
Yogurt with mixed nuts and coffee with cream and sugar.
Do you have any recurring dreams or nightmares?
I don’t have nightmares. I have a recurring dream about one of my brothers. He was an older brother, and he had a wickedly funny sense of humor, and he used to call me when I was in medical school at ridiculous hours, and he would say, “Hey sister,” and tell me this silly joke, and I still dream about that. He hasn’t give me any new jokes lately because he’s gone …
What advice do you give to aspiring physicians?
To aspiring anything: Love what you do. And to aspiring physicians: Be open-minded to changing how we do healthcare in this country.
What’s hanging on your living room walls?
At the moment there’s a small, wooden tree-like structure, and hanging on it are messages to my daughter from family and friends with advice about going into high school. And there’s an amazing piece we picked up from Puerto Vallarta 25 years ago, this extraordinary metal structure that has all the symbolisms both of pagan religions and the Catholic religion. It sits on the mantel, and you look at it and see something different every time. And about four photos in black-and-white by a photographer in Mexico.
If you had an extra hour in the day, what would you do with it?
Read a novel.
Where do you come up with your best ideas?
The place where my head gets clearest is when I’m gardening, and so I would say when I’m weeding and pulling stuff out of the ground—that’s when my ideas kind of flow through my head.
Who or what do you root for?
I always root for the Giants. Always always always.