Rais Vohra

Emergency physician, medical toxicologist, and public health officer for Fresno County, California, USA

Rais Vohra is an emergency physician, medical toxicologist, and public health officer for Fresno County. Born in Bombay, India, Dr. Vohra grew up in Texas since age 8, and attended Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He then completed post-graduate training in an emergency medicine residency at UT Southwestern Medical Center/ Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas. After that, he completed a medical toxicology fellowship at UC San Diego, and then accepted a faculty position at UCLA-Olive View Medical Center in Los Angeles County. Since 2009, Dr. Vohra has been a faculty member in the UCSF Fresno Department of Emergency Medicine, where he established an inpatient toxicology consultation service.

As a medical toxicologist, Dr Vohra has been involved at the intersection of emergency medicine, clinical research, and public health policy throughout his career. Dr Vohra currently serves as the Medical Director of the Fresno-Madera Division of the California Poison Control System, which serves the population and health care workforce of California with an always-available, toll-free hotline staffed by specialists trained in poisoning management. In addition, he leads the California Bridge Program at Community Regional Medical Center. The California Bridge Network of sites trains health care providers across the state and advises the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) on best practices related to improving access to treatment for patients with substance use disorder and opioid withdrawal.

In his various capacities, Dr. Vohra has played an important role at the intersection of clinical medicine and public health locally, regionally, and globally. Since 2009, Dr Vohra has been a faculty member at UCSF Fresno Department of Emergency Medicine, where he established an inpatient toxicology consultation service and also directed the UCSF Fresno Global Health Curriculum, serving as the first ACEP Ambassador to Nepal, as a volunteer for earthquake relief in Haiti, and as a toxicology educator and researcher at multiple international locations. All of these experiences allowed unique insights into how health care systems are structured, and how they can be improved and expanded given their diverse resources and goals.

Dr Vohra’s dedication and interest in public health was solidified in January 2020, just weeks before COVID 19 was declared a worldwide pandemic, when he was appointed as Interim Health Officer for the Fresno County Department of Public Health. Since that time, Dr Vohra has been at the forefront of the pandemic response in Central California’s San Joaquin Valley, a largely agricultural and medically underserved region of the state. In this new position, Dr Vohra continues to help foster important connections and partnerships between agencies and institutions within Fresno County, the central valley, and the California Department of Public Health. While these relationships are most urgently required for the current coronavirus response effort, the collaborations being formed will hopefully last beyond the pandemic to leave Fresno County a stronger, healthier and more resilient community.

Lectures by Rais Vohra

Toxicology: The Management of Poisoning and Overdose: Part 1

General Overview

Emergency Medicine / Toxicology

Toxicology: The Management of Poisoning and Overdose: Part 2

common presentations and management

Emergency Medicine / Toxicology

Decontamination of the Poisoned Patient

Key considerations

Emergency Medicine / Toxicology