Amanda De La Cerda

Amanda (She/her/hers) is a proud native of Sylmar, CA. After graduating from Mount Saint Mary’s University, she began working as a 7th-grade science teacher at Olive Vista Middle School in Sylmar. This transformative teaching experience motivated her to continue working with children and under-resourced populations. Always interested in medicine, she moved to the bay area to enroll as a post-baccalaureate student. While pursuing post-bac work, she used her skills as an educator in her role as the Co-Director of the Summer Science Institute at SFSU which worked to promote the entry of underrepresented minority students into the health professions.  Amanda is a graduate of the PRIME-LA program at UCLA, a program focusing on leadership and advocacy to address healthcare disparities in medically underserved populations in California. In addition to her MD degree, Amanda also has a Master’s in Public Policy. She plans to use this skill set to advocate for equitable health and social justice policies that impact the communities she is committed to serving.  

My path to Med-Peds was a bit tortuous, but I am so happy to be here! I love working with adolescents, so pediatrics was always high on my list. I realized that working with adolescents and young adults is very fulfilling, but I didn’t want the work to stop there. The capability to work with patients of all ages and the opportunity it creates for rapport and advocacy is unmatched. UCLA offers a true breadth of training experiences.  Whatever your interests, you can find someone working in these areas. I was particularly drawn to UCLA for the opportunity to continue working at Olive View. Also- LA is where it’s at! The culture, the food, the weather. What’s not to love? Health policy, working with justice-involved youth and unhoused folks, advocating for LGBTQ care and being a champion for gender-affirming care, EDI in academia.   

Amanda and her wife have 2 children, so in their spare time you can find them all at a local park, the zoo, or the beach. They are also big fans of the Natural History Museum and La Brea tar pits!  Amanda’s favorite TV show to binge is Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Education:

Medical School - University of California, Los Angeles
Undergrad - Mount St. Mary's University