Andrew Chang

Andrew (He/him/his) is proudly a byproduct of his Taiwanese heritage/his parents' daily love and sacrifice, the experiences he accrued moving all over California and Washington state as kid and growing up in church. It was at UC Berkeley that he solidified his interest in medicine through his work at The Suitcase Clinic for the unhoused population and his minor in Global Poverty and Practice. Moving forward, Andrew happily found extensions of his prior experiences through leadership roles at UCSD SOM's Student-Run Free Clinic where he went to medical school. Today, Andrew fancies himself an amateur writer and photographer and hopes to somehow work these forms of storytelling into his future career. Aside from still being curious (or indecisive, depending on how you look at it) about all the different fields out there in medicine, Andrew chose Med-Peds due to his interest in working with the most marginalized both on a domestic and global scale. Having the wider, broader spectrum of clinical skills allows the opportunity to say the words "yes" more often than not to whoever comes through his future clinic doors. In other words, a Med-Peds background lets you adapt to the needs identified by a local community, whether it be for the little ones, our respected elderly population, or teenagers/young adults with chronic illnesses.

First and foremost, Andrew chose UCLA because it is close to Anaheim, where Andrew's family calls home today. But even more than that, Andrew feels that UCLA is truly the Goldilocks program of Med-Peds, with a steady balance of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine, community and academic training, and inpatient and outpatient focuses. Finally, UCLA offers great future opportunities for underserved medicine, something that became a strong point of emphasis during the interview trail. Also, Andrew knows he's being cliche here, but the people really are the grandest and the best! And the constant sunlight is a big plus! Career interests? BRB, i.e. who knows! But Andrew feels most called to working with local ethnic minorities and immigrant populations. Andrew is currently surviving his intern year and is looking into our global and underserved medicine pathways for 2nd years and has joined the IM POCUS curriculum.

Andrew enjoys taking long walks or runs along the beach at sunset – they truly change his outlook each day for the better without fail. Bit by bit, Andrew is also exploring the lore that is LA's Asian food and coffee scene! And in the future, going into the mountains to hike! Andrew isn't always with the times and doesn't watch too much TV, but he'll happily engage in a conversation about Chef's Table!

Education:

Medical School – University of California, San Diego
Undergrad – University of California, Berkeley