Postdoctoral Research, University of California - San Francisco
Postdoctoral Research, Loyola University Medical School
M.D., University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Dr. Igor Mitrovic is a Professor of Physiology and Clinical Pharmacy. Dr. Mitrovic earned his MD degree in 1991. from the University of Belgrade, Serbia (with the majority of studies completed at the University of Zagreb, Croatia). In 2001, following two postdoctoral fellowships in systems neuroscience (at Loyola University Medical School in Chicago and at UCSF School of Medicine), Dr. Mitrovic joined the Department of Physiology at UCSF School of Medicine. Dr. Mitrovic is responsible for teaching physiology and pathophysiology across UCSF's professional schools. He has led a major curricular redesign at the UCSF School of Pharmacy, creating an innovative, integrated, competency-based curriculum. Following the curricular design work, Dr. Mitrovic has served as the Vice Dean of PharmD education, where he created new programs to increase (critically declining) interest in PharmD education and improve access to healthcare for underresourced communities in the Central Valley. Dr. Mitrovic participated in and led curriculum and faculty development at UCSF, nationally and internationally, and has served as an outside curricular and educational faculty reviewer domestically and internationally.
For his contribution to education at UCSF and other institutions, Dr. Mitrovic has been recognized through numerous teaching awards, including the Henry J. Keiser Awards for Excellence in Teaching (UCSF School of Medicine), the Long Teaching Awards for Excellence in Teaching (UCSF School of Pharmacy), and the Excellence in Teaching Award (UCSF School of Dentistry). He was honored as The Last Lecture speaker by the UCSF-wide student body and has received the Distinction in Teaching Award from the UCSF Academic Senate. Dr. Mitrovic was also awarded an honorary Doctorate from the University of Kragujevac, Republic of Serbia, for his contribution to the development of medical education.
Teaching, mentoring, and almost two decades of service on the Committee on Admissions at the UCSF School of Medicine have led Dr. Mitrovic to recognize a significant need to mentor and advocate for students from underresourced communities. To that end, Dr. Mitrovic has developed workshops and mentored numerous high school and college students who have earned advanced degrees and practice in various professions.
While access to the right information (a critical factor for academic and professional success) can be addressed more readily through workshops and mentoring, the second factor, emotional resilience, is much harder to address. Thus, Dr. Mitrovic joined forces with several colleagues to develop Emotional Brain Training, a neuroscience-based psychotherapeutic method designed to increase stress resilience and promote well-being.