Dr. Michelle Lin
Emergency physician by night.
Educator by day.
AI tinkerer always.
Professor at UCSF · Founder of ALiEM
ML
Tricks of the Trade in Emergency Medicine
50 clinical tricks from 38 experts
- 100+ photos
- Expert authors
- Real-world tips
AI Learning Journal
View all →Notes from a physician who doesn't code
Featured Work
Initiatives
A selection of initiatives in medical education, clinical resources, and knowledge translation
ALiEM
Founded ALiEM in 2008 as a solo blog for EM educators — it grew into one of the most trusted emergency medicine education platforms worldwide, with 2M+ annual views. Built a volunteer team of peer-reviewed content creators, launched ALiEMU (a free LMS with 75,000+ course completions), and created published mentorship programs including the Wellness Think Tank, Chief Resident Incubator, and Faculty Incubator. Partnered with SAEM, ACMT, and CORD for content and sponsorship. Hosted ALiEM Connect, the national EM graduation event during COVID. Published a 5-volume series on education theory for medical educators.
#PostitPearls
Created the #PostitPearls movement — hand-drawn post-it note doodles capturing bedside teaching moments in the emergency department. What started as a way to scale learning beyond individual learners became a viral Instagram phenomenon. These visual clinical pearls benefit colleagues on shift and the global medical education community.
Digital Innovation Lab
Director of the UCSF Department of Emergency Medicine's Digital Innovation Lab. Leading initiatives exploring AI applications in emergency medicine education and clinical practice, including workflow automation, knowledge translation tools, and educational technology research.
DynaMed Editor
Emergency Medicine Editor for DynaMed, an evidence-based point-of-care clinical decision support resource by EBSCO Health. Reviewing and curating emergency medicine content to support clinicians in making informed decisions at the bedside.
ALiEMU
Co-created ALiEM University (ALiEMU), a free learning management system for emergency medicine education. With over 75,000 course completions, ALiEMU hosts the AIR Series, Pediatric EM POCUS curriculum, Bridge to EM, and other open-access courses. Our mantra: 'Be free to learn.'
PECARN SPARC Node
Dissemination Lead for the SPARC node (San Francisco-Oakland, Providence, Atlanta Research Collaborative) within PECARN — the nation's first research network dedicated to transforming emergency care for children through evidence-based medicine. Amplifying SPARC publications and initiatives through blogs on PECARN.org and ALiEM.com, plus social media outreach.
AI Lab
Currently Exploring
AI projects in healthcare and academic medicine
In Use
Faculty Promotion Letter Automation
n8n workflow that curates faculty documents and generates first-draft promotion letters with transparent audit trails and flags for human review. Currently in use by UCSF EM promotion committee.
In Use
PAIA: Executive AI Assistant
Personal AI assistant built with Claude's Agent SDK featuring memory, journaling, board of directors advisory sessions, CRM, YouTube video analyzer, and growing skill library.
In ProgressIRB Approved
Base Hospital Radio Call Analysis
AI-powered transcription and QI analysis of base hospital radio calls between paramedics and physicians.
In ProgressIRB Approved
California Poison Center Call Analysis
Using AI to transcribe and analyze poison center calls for quality improvement insights.
In ProgressIRB Approved
SF EMS Medical Record QI Analysis
AI-driven quality improvement analysis of San Francisco EMS Agency patient care records.
Planned
ALiEMU Analytics via Natural Language
REST API integration with LearnDash LMS to enable natural language queries for ALiEMU course statistics and learner analytics.
Research
Select Journal Publications
Peer-reviewed publications organized by theme
Digital Scholarship & Social Media
FOAM movement, quality indicators for blogs/podcasts, online journal clubs, Social Media Index, and altmetrics.
COVID-19 & Virtual Education
ALiEM Connect national graduation event and innovations in remote medical education during the pandemic.
Wellness & Burnout
Resident wellness initiatives, burnout prevalence studies, and the National Emergency Medicine Wellness Survey.
Virtual Communities & Mentorship
Chief Resident Incubator, Faculty Incubator, and online mastermind groups for professional development.
ALiEM AIR Series
Approved Instructional Resources — curated blog and podcast reviews organized by clinical topic.
Medical Education Scholarship
Education fellowship curricula, critical appraisals of medical education research, and faculty development.
About
I'm a Professor of Emergency Medicine at UCSF and the department's Director of the Digital Innovation Lab. I work in the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital emergency department.
As Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Academic Life in Emergency Medicine (ALiEM), I've helped build one of the most visited medical education sites in the world with over 2 million annual views. I'm passionate about using AI and technology to transform medical education and clinical practice.
Contact
Get in Touch
Have a question or want to collaborate? Send me a message.