Who We Are

Dear Prospective Applicant

Welcome to Family Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA! Located amidst the most ethnically diverse urban area in the world, LA serves as a magnet for immigrants from Latin American and the Pacific Rim as well as 'internal immigrants' from all parts of the US. Blessed with great natural beauty, a temperate climate and leading educational and cultural institutions, the area is also home to one of the largest uninsured and low-income populations in the county.

We are the most community-based department in this world-renowned academic institution. As a result, Family Medicine has been encouraged to develop initiatives through our research and educational training programs to address the needs of both the insured and vulnerable and uninsured populations that make up the face of the 'City of Angels'.

Our family medicine residency program accepts 12 uniquely talented individuals a year for our two teaching family health centers; the Les Kelley Family Health Center (LK-FHC) located in Santa Monica and the Mid-Valley Family Health Center (MV-FHC) located in Van Nuys. The LK-FHC serves an economically diverse population while the MV-FHC serves a large immigrant (predominately Latino) and uninsured population.

To address UCLA's traditional mission of education, research and clinical services we have recruited a dynamic faculty of experienced clinicians, innovative medical educators, and health services researchers with extensive expertise in such areas as domestic violence, health problems of the homeless, racial disparities among cancer patients and HIV/AIDS, to mention just a few.

Almost half of our faculty has advanced degrees or fellowship training in research or public health allowing us to offer additional training programs in Occupation and Environmental Medicine and fellowships in Preventive Medicine and Sports Medicine. Further, we sponsor 2-3 year research and policy fellowships with our National Research Service Awards (NRSA) and R W Johnson Clinical Scholars programs, all of which are linked to the Schools of Public Health and Public Policy as well as the RAND Institute.

If you seek outstanding clinical training in an academic urban setting, share our social mission and desire exposure to some of the broader issues impacting health care, I invite you to read on and then come to UCLA to learn and make a difference.

Patrick T. Dowling, MD, MPH
Professor and Chair
Department of Family Medicine
pdowling@mednet.ucla.edu