California faces an urgent and growing need for primary care physicians, particularly in its rural and inner urban communities where fewer doctors choose to practice. This shortage is further compounded by the dearth of physicians who have the cultural background and linguistic skills to meet the needs of these communities’ disproportionate Hispanic population with limited English proficiency.

UCLA’s IMG Program directly tackles these issues with an innovative pre-residency training program that is unique in the nation. The program recruits international medical graduates already residing in the United States, who completed their initial medical training in Latin and Central American medical schools, and who now seek full medical licensure in the United States. Providing them with an intensive, standardized course of professional instruction and clinical rotations, the IMG Program prepares participants for the US Medical Licensing Examinations and to compete successfully for Family Medicine residency positions in California. The result is a well-trained cadre of bicultural and bilingual physicians committed to serving in California’s most medically under-resourced communities.

The UCLA IMG Program is sustained by the hard work and dedication of our program leadership and staff, our participants and alumni, and with the critical generosity of our donors who share our vision of what this program means to vulnerable populations throughout California. Your gift to the UCLA IMG Program helps ensure that UCLA continues to lead the way in addressing some of the most pressing medical care provider needs in California and beyond.

To make a gift please fill out our online form or contact Jennifer Brown at [email protected] or 310-206-2435 for assistance.

Thank you for your support!

Michelle Bholat, MD, MPH
Co-Founder and Executive Director
UCLA International Medical Graduate Program

Professor and Executive Vice Chair
Department of Family Medicine
David Geffen School of Medicine

Patrick T. Dowling, MD, MPH
Co-Founder and Executive Associate Director
UCLA International Medical Graduate Program

Kaiser Permanente Professor of Community Medicine and Executive Chair
Department of Family Medicine
David Geffen School of Medicine

The paramount objective of the UCLA IMG Program is to increase the number of well-trained Family Medicine physicians practicing in California’s underserved rural and inner urban communities, with the cultural backgrounds and bilingual skills to meet the needs of the patients they serve.

MAKE A GIFT