Letter From the Program Director
Dear Residency Candidate,
I am elated that you are thinking of joining our UCLA Med-Peds family! Our residency program consistently attracts competitive applicants from around the country due to our robust curriculum, strong Med-Peds identity, opportunities for customizations, and the vibrant city we are located in. We have much to offer from engaging and supportive faculty, staff, administrators, and residents to the most invaluable educational and clinical foundation required for you to thrive in your future career as a Med-Peds physician.
Our residents get first class experiential foundation in clinical medicine at UCLA Health which is currently ranked number 1 in California and in Los Angeles. Diversity of clinical experiences is something we strongly value as a program. Our residents train at multiple facilities across Los Angeles County in addition to having two continuity clinic sites at the Med-Peds Comprehensive Care Center and the renowned Venice Family Clinic. The ability to build and maintain patient panels at both a well-resourced academic clinical site and a federally qualified health center provides our residents with a well-rounded view of what it means to provide patient-centered holistic care to all Angelenos as well as sharpen their skills to be facile clinicians who are attune to the structural barriers in place that impact patient care.
Since its creation in 2003, our residency program has continually evolved to meet the needs of a growing Med-Peds physician workforce. We are part of a robust Med-Peds division which sits in the Department of Medicine at UCLA. Residents in our program are exposed to Med-Peds specific programs like transition of complex pediatric patients to adult practice, care of neurodiverse patients across the lifespan through our LEND clinic, holistic care of gender diverse patients in our gender health clinic and distinctive global health experiences.
Our Med-Peds faculty and residents are leaders in the EDI space across UCLA Health and David Geffen School of Medicine particularly when it comes to care of sexual and gender minority patients, neurodiversity, racial and ethnic diversity and inclusion, antiracism in medicine and access for persons with disabilities and chronic illness to name a few. As such, equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) are core values for our program. This is the reason why our Med-Peds residency has its own EDI committee separate from our categorical programs known as mEDI-pEDI which meets regularly to commune, discuss and review various EDI focused topics through a Med-Peds lens.
Finally, speaking as someone who has had the opportunity to live in different parts of the country, as a city Los Angeles cannot be beat. It is culturally diverse and vibrant with a mix of people and languages from many backgrounds. You can start off your day by surfing in the morning, then going skiing or snowboarding and ending off your day blazing a trail through the desert.
At UCLA Med-Peds, we value our trainees having a range of experiences to make them well-rounded excellent Med-Peds physicians however, the spirit behind our program is we are a tight-knit family within the greater internal medicine and pediatrics categorical programs and as a group we are deeply committed to leaving the world a better place than we found it. This is an exciting time in your career and we believe that your time spent at UCLA in our Med-Peds residency will be invaluable and transcend a lifetime. I encourage you to explore our program, ask questions, and see for yourself why you should consider joining the UCLA Med-Peds family.
Warmest Regards,
Gifty