Faculty Profile
Faculty Spotlight: Ilina D. Pluym, MD
Some of the most rewarding moments of Dr. Ilina D. Pluym’s work as a UCLA OBGYN maternal-fetal medicine specialist come when she first meets with patients who are uneasy about their high-risk pregnancy.
“Obstetrics is generally a very positive experience for patients and providers,” says Dr. Pluym, who completed a maternal-fetal medicine fellowship at UCLA OBGYN and then joined the department’s faculty as an assistant clinical professor. “But when you introduce the high-risk element, these are patients who tend to be especially nervous, so to be able to offer reassurance and assist them in experiencing a normal pregnancy with a good outcome is very satisfying.”
Dr. Pluym, whose clinical research interests include high-risk pregnancies, prenatal diagnosis, and twin pregnancies, says her fellowship experience provided ideal preparation — both for the strong training she received in ultrasound and for the experience of working with multidisciplinary teams to manage the most high-risk patients. It also allowed her to focus on a particular patient population within maternal-fetal medicine: patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). “Being at a large academic institution with many subspecialists makes it possible to develop a niche because of the volume of referrals,” she notes.
As co-director of the newly established Preconception, Pregnancy, and Postpartum + IBD clinic, Dr. Pluym works with a multidisciplinary team to optimize pregnancy outcomes for patients with IBD. Dr. Pluym says she was inspired to work with the population by the clinic’s co-director, Nirupama N. Bonthala, MD, associate clinical professor of medicine and director of women’s health in inflammatory bowel disease in the UCLA Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases. “When I met Dr. Bonthala, her enthusiasm about working with these patients was contagious, which made me excited to collaborate with her,” Dr. Pluym says.
UCLA OBGYN’s status as a leading academic institution allows Dr. Pluym to pursue another rewarding endeavor: imparting her enthusiasm and expertise through the teaching of fellows, residents, and medical students. She is a faculty mentor for several resident research projects, and she directs the Obstetrics and Gynecology clerkships of the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine students who rotate through Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
“We like to say the students are pluripotent, meaning they don’t know yet know what they want to do and have the potential to go many different ways, so having a memorable mentor or clinical experience can shape their entire career,” Dr. Pluym says. “Teaching is a wonderful experience because, just as it can be joyful to watch your child do something for the time, to be able to see an intern experience their first C-section is a reminder of what got me excited to go into this field.”