Mission Statement

Equity

We understand that historical and systemic injustice has led to decades of disparate health care outcomes for our patients. We are committed to understanding the upstream factors that lead to these disparate outcomes through diverse clinical training and a foundational curriculum in social determinants of health. We are dedicated to creating an inclusive and anti-racist physician workforce through training in implicit bias and microaggressions. We also understand that many of these same systemic injustices have limited who enters and advances in the physician workforce. We are constantly looking inward to improve the representation of residents who are underrepresented in medicine, the climate of our program, and mentorship opportunities for members of our community who identify as BIPOC, LGTBQ, or first-generation college students. Through our partnership with UCLA’s medical school, we aim to continue this legacy of cultivating equity, diversity, and inclusion in future generations of physicians.

Education & Scholarship

We believe that the next generation of physician leaders must be equipped to recognize, celebrate, and speak across differences. In addition to our diverse clinical training sites, we have adopted a longitudinal and multidisciplinary EDI curriculum for all residents that spans outpatient didactics, inpatient conferences, and departmental grand rounds. This curriculum encompasses topics related to social determinants of health, vulnerable patient populations, health equity, implicit bias, and microaggressions. Additional opportunities are available to interested residents through our Health Equity and Global Health pathways. We are committed to academic excellence and benefit from one of the strongest Health Services Research departments in the country, with many research initiatives exploring health disparities. 

Service & Outreach

We believe that providing care to our community is a privilege. We honor this privilege by acknowledging our duty to the greater city and county of Los Angeles. Our residents serve at hospitals throughout the county at a myriad of federal, county, and UC institutions. These experiences inform our dedication to improving UCLA’s commitment to the under- and uninsured individuals of our community. We also partner with local organizations (including street medicine organizations, food banks, and shelters) for community service events.

Advocacy

We are committed to change within ourselves and our institution through a spirit of advocacy. Our resident community partners with medical students, residents, faculty, and other staff to engage our health systems in anti-racist transformation. We have demonstrated, petitioned, and participated in town halls with our leadership to generate structural and financial transformation within our institution as a means of advocating for better care for our patients, creating a more diverse physician workforce, and serving the city we live in.