Larry Hill, MD ’67, Resident Alum : Making changes, healing people, around the world and at home

For nearly 60 years, the words he heard at graduation from his college president rang in Larry Hill’s ears: “Don’t do the same thing all your life. No job should last more than 15 years.”

Hill took this advice to heart and has continually made changes – sometimes dramatic ones – throughout his life. This approach vastly expanded his experiences, his influence, and his happiness.

“Keep open to as many opportunities as you can, no matter how strange they might sound at first,” says Hill, who has gone from internal medicine residency at UCLA, to serving in the Peace Corps in Venezuela. From running a rural practice in Northern California and membership on the California Medical Board to spending 15 years in Africa and Asia with the US State Department, then back to UCSF as a volunteer teacher and advocate for palliative and end-of-life care. And, always, someone who took on a lot more than just a day job.

For his inspirational work as a physician and mentor around the globe, Hill has been named the 2022 Alumnus of the Year by the UCSF Medical Alumni Association.

Martha Jo Whitehouse, MD, ’70, resident alum and clinical fellow alum, nominated Hill for the honor and trained under him at UCSF. She says Hill was a gifted educator as chief resident at San Francisco General Hospital. Dr. Whitehouse is a rheumatologist and founder of JumpStart BioDevelopment.

“He was an excellent teacher, using questions more than instructions to challenge me to learn, dig deeper, ask questions, use my wits,” Whitehouse says. “He always encouraged, shared, motivated. And all of his accomplishments have required me to keep asking questions. He remains curious – something really important to have as a physician.”

When he learned he’d been chosen as Alumnus of the Year, Hill was stunned. “Most alumni lucky enough to get this honor are known for their academic teaching and research,” he says. “Frankly, it didn’t occur to me that I, basically a country doc and government bureaucrat, would ever be considered for this. I’m thrilled as can be.”

Building a Unique Career

After growing up in Los Angeles, Hill earned an undergraduate degree at Princeton University, where he initially planned a career as an actuary. Changing course to pursue medicine, he came to UCSF and eventually chose internal medicine for his specialty. He began his career with 15 years in Eureka, Calif., where his general practice increasingly focused on oncology. He founded Hospice of Humboldt during the early days of the hospice movement; it’s still in operation, now many times its original size, and Hill says it may be his proudest achievement.

Hitting year 15 as a private doctor, he remembers thinking, “This is great, but I’m not going to do it for the rest of my life.” His wife, Terry, by his side and their children in college, Hill cast a wide net for his next move. He applied to work as a physician for the CIA, Peace Corps, and State Department – finding the best fit with the latter.

That decision would take the couple to Angola, Bangladesh, China, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, and the Philippines. It also took them to South Africa, where Hill took a sabbatical to study HIV/AIDS in low-resource areas. He played a significant role in setting up the South African program for the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The programs the PEPFAR team put into motion there have in the 20 years since saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

Through it all, he relied on his strong partnership with Terry: “She always found something important to do, wherever we went,” he says. She worked as a teacher, high school counselor, technical editor, and operator of a small hotel. “If I had been assigned to the moon, she would have found plenty to do up there,” Hill says with a warm chuckle.

The Newest Chapter

Retiring from the State Department at the required age of 65 led to the newest chapter in Hill’s story. One adventure: becoming a novelist. He’s written and self-published three books, including a partly autobiographical novel, Baobab, about a retired California internist in a fictitious African country during a bloody coup. Why not write a memoir? “Because I have fun making stuff up,” he says. “While at my computer, I spend a lot of time laughing.”

Today, you’re most likely to find Hill in Golden Gate Park or around the city on his e-bike – he’s logged nearly 5,000 miles on it during the pandemic. “It’s the best way to get around the best city in the world,” he says. He and Terry have made philanthropy a significant part of their lives, working with UCSF, the symphony and opera, San Francisco Parks Alliance, and many other nonprofits.

For 14 years, he was a volunteer teacher at UCSF – earning the title of clinical professor at age 79 – and remains active with the UCSF School of Medicine Admissions Committee. He served as board of the UCSF Medical Alumni Association, including two years as its president.

For his many adventures, he gives a lot of credit to his alma mater. “UCSF, for about $100 a semester, gave me a prestigious medical degree, allowing me to do all these crazy things,” he says. “I owe them.”

Though he remains active on many fronts, he loves the freedom that retirement has brought. “These 15 years have been fabulous,” he says. “I get to choose what I do. There are doctors who don’t retire and that’s fine – but I think retiring to start a new life makes all the sense in the world.”