1. < Message from the Chair

In recent weeks, I had the privilege of meeting with our new chief residents and our 16 third-year primary care and med-peds residents. These primary care and med-peds residents recently started the health systems, health policy and advocacy block of their program and will learn much over the next year about how to use their influence as physicians to address systemic healthcare challenges and advocate for their patients. Though this work has always been critical, its importance is reilluminated in the context of the many obstacles our profession and the patients we care for currently face. Thus, to both groups, I shared some perspectives from my own experience as well as some “life” advice I have picked up along the way. I also enjoyed fielding their questions and learning about the goals and aspirations of our newly minted chief residents.  I humbly share some of these perspectives with you in the hope that they could benefit or resonate with you no matter where you are in your careers. 

First, whether you are a trainee who is just embarking on your journey in medicine or a longtime physician who is contemplating your next steps, consider how you could use your career to bring about change in a broken and fragmented healthcare system. Training at UCLA gives us skills beyond being excellent physicians — we learn how to use our relative privilege as some of the country’s most accomplished physicians to bring attention to care gaps and to advocate for policies that bring about positive, patient-focused change.  

Second, remember that advocacy comes in many forms. Those that align with your core values are the ones that will keep you motivated when inevitable difficulties arise. That is true even if in the face of present uncertainties, your instinct is to take a path that, though uncomfortable, might prioritize self-preservation. For instance, a question was posed by several of our trainees, as to whether or not health services research can still be a viable career option, in light of current federal funding challenges. The answer is yes. Remember that positive change is a long game — ask yourself how your contribution will be meaningful five years from now, not just tomorrow. Forge your path in a way that centers the “why” that led you into medicine in the first place. The further you are from training, the easier it is to forget that “why,” but keeping it front of mind through work that fuels you can prevent disillusion and burnout.  

Even with a solid “why,” medicine will always be a taxing profession. That brings me to my third point: It is crucial to lean on your community to sustain you on this long path. The family, friends and colleagues who helped you arrive at this point in your career will continue to uplift you as you take your next steps.  

In the face of uncertainty, our greatest duty — to serve our patients — has not changed. We become more resilient by taking action that satisfies our longing for a sense of purpose, one that those of us who chose this profession know well. I encourage you to find a form of advocacy that aligns with both your goals and your spirit, and to remind yourself every day of the “why” that brought you here. On the days it is not enough, reach out to your community, whether that is your friends and family beyond UCLA or here in the DoM. 

During my lunch meeting with the chief residents, I was impressed to learn about their specific goals for their tenure. These range from enhancing the procedural curriculum, to increasing engagement of our trainees with our community, to implementing novel innovations in medical education both for medical students on our services and fellow trainees. There were interesting ideas regarding exploring how the explosion in artificial intelligence could be leveraged to enhance documentation and other aspects of patient care. I reminded our chiefs that they have one of the most important and influential jobs in the department, given their proximity to our motivated and impressive trainees. I reminded them of my expectation that they would project and motivate our residents and interns to be LEADERS not only as trainees, but importantly as future internal medicine physicians. I am confident in concluding that with our current chiefs, our program remains in good hands.

Residency Recruitment Is On the Horizon

It may feel like our new residents just arrived, but the next residency recruitment cycle is just one month away! All of our chief residents play a role in this exciting and strategically important process for our department, and two of them are selected each recruitment season to lead this process. Stepping into this role this year are Anige’r A.R. Oriol, MD, inclusive excellence chief resident, and Laura A. Santangelo, MD, ambulatory chief resident at the VA.  

Dr. Santangelo noted that current residents and faculty are essential to the recruitment process. Residents volunteer to host casual conversations with applicants between interviews, join evening networking events in their limited free time and give prospective future residents insight into resident life on Instagram. Faculty serve as interviewers and share their expertise in the field, “offering a window into the leaders in medicine we have at UCLA,” Dr. Santangelo said.  

“Residents and faculty really make up the experience that applicants have on interview day and beyond,” she said. “Together, they showcase the collaborative spirit and incredible teaching culture that make UCLA such a special place to train.”  

Among the questions posed to me during my recent lunch meeting with the chiefs, were concerns regarding how we address questions that applicants might pose, about how current headwinds such as federal funding cuts could impact our training programs and our commitments to trainees and future colleagues. I reminded our chiefs that we should reassure applicants that we are playing a “long game.”  Colleagues who will be joining our program in 2026 will graduate in 2029!  Although the landscape three years from now is impossible to predict, our fundamental commitment to equipping our trainees with skills that will ensure that they will be among the best trained and most competitive graduating residents in the country will not change. We are positioning our department to sustainably weather any challenges that might come to us and will do this without compromising our core commitment to training the next generation of leaders in medicine.  

Please join me in thanking Dr. Oriol, Dr. Santangelo, the rest of the recruitment team, and all of our faculty and trainees who will participate in helping us find the best and brightest residents to bring into our outstanding program! Dr. Oriol noted that we are in need of subspecialists for applicant interviews, particularly in cardiology, gastroenterology and hematology-oncology. If you are interested in participating, please reach out to Residency Recruitment and Onboarding Coordinator Tricia Barrow at TBarrow@mednet.ucla.edu.   

Kindness and Community Make First Gen@DGSOM Mixer a Success 

The power of community shone brightly on the evening of Aug. 16 at the eighth annual First Gen@DGSOM welcome mixer, a special gathering to celebrate students, faculty and staff throughout the medical school and UCLA Department of Medicine who are the first in their family to go to college. This year’s event was particularly meaningful in light of the challenges faced in our community and around the world more broadly, a time when friendship, camaraderie, and mutual support feel as important as ever.  

 “You deserve to be here at DGSOM just as much as the person sitting next to you in this lecture. We all must work hard,” Dr. Sifuentes said. “We each have our strengths and our challenges, but be true to yourself, open to new experiences and see where you thrive. You'll know it when you feel it.”

“It wasn’t fancy, but it was delicious, and everybody was so happy,” Dr. Casillas said. She was grateful that all the faculty who attended chose to stay for the entire evening, including DGSOM Vice Dean of Inclusive Excellence Dave McIntosh, PhD, and was especially moved by the generosity of staff members in the DGSOM Office of Inclusive Excellence who picked up food and stayed late to clean up.  

“The staff was doing this out of the kindness of their own heart — they didn't have to do that. That's not part of their job,” Dr. Casillas said. “To see them go the extra mile was a good reminder that people really do care.”  

Thank you to all the faculty and staff who turned out to make this year’s First Gen mixer a success. This example of community-building is what makes the DoM a great place to work and illustrates the core values that will help us prevail during times of challenge. Enjoy the recap video below!

DoM LEADERS Travel to Bakersfield to Kick Off New Kern Medical Clerkship Site

After two years of careful planning and collaboration, I am proud to share that DGSOM students will soon begin rotating through UCLA affiliate Kern Medical in Bakersfield as a new site for the UCLA DGSOM internal medicine clerkship, a vital training ground for medical students to integrate their knowledge with clinical skills. Program leaders made final preparations and offered a preview of what’s in store for the clerkship during a special meeting at Kern Medical on Aug. 14. In attendance from the DoM were Executive Vice Chair for Education Jodi L. Friedman, MD;  Tyler Larsen, MD, co-chair of the internal medicine clerkship; Executive Clerkship Coordinator for Internal Medicine Sarah Chun; and Gregory Brent, MD, senior executive academic vice chair. The group was hosted at Kern Medical by Chief Medical Officer and Chief Medical Information Officer Glenn E. Goldis, MD;  Amir Berjis, MD, designated institutional official; Chair of the Department of Medicine Ralph Garcia-Pacheco, MD; and Internal Medicine Program Director Kasey Fox, DO, along with other educational leaders, faculty and trainees. Kern is a longtime educational partner of UCLA, hosting 120 residents and fellows as well as DGSOM clerkships in psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology and emergency medicine.  

The day’s events included a group tour of the outstanding facilities for medical students, the ward team rooms, and a state-of-the-art simulation center. In a noon conference with Kern Medical Department of Medicine faculty and trainees, Drs. Larsen, Friedman and Brent, presented material on the internal medicine curriculum; UCLA department of medicine residency and fellowship programs; and our educators’ approach to giving trainees feedback and preparing narrative evaluations, along with updates for faculty on the strategic plan and resources available in education, community engagement and faculty scholarship.  

The DoM is also looking forward to bringing Kern Medical residents to UCLA. In addition to the launch of the internal medicine clerkship, which will officially begin in October, this fall will also see residents at Kern Medical begin coming down to UCLA for a geriatrics rotation. We are exploring other opportunities for Kern Medical residents and fellows to join rotations at UCLA and our other affiliate hospitals as well.  

Congratulations to the team behind this valuable new clerkship, and I look forward to meeting new residents and fellows from Kern Medical when they come through our wards this fall! 

Meet Our New Wellness Champions 

The well-being of our people in the DoM is fundamental to our ability to fulfill our missions. DoM Wellness Champions are a key component of our commitment to alleviating burnout and helping our faculty thrive in their demanding careers. They set division wellness goals and share critical wellness information, actively contributing to our department’s strategic wellness pillars. They are also committed to providing support and connecting faculty with the appropriate resources to ensure a comprehensive approach to well-being.  

I am pleased to introduce to you our Wellness Champions for 2025-2026. You will see some familiar faces along with some new ones. With their leadership, I am confident that we will continue to make significant strides in fostering a supportive environment where everyone can reach their greatest potential. To our new champions, I look forward to working with you all! 

Dale

P.S.
The connections that we make at UCLA are lifelong. I was recently up at Stanford to give an endowed lecture and in the audience was one of our recent chief residents, Dr. Jiwen Li who recently completed her cardiology fellowship at Stanford University and is starting her career as an academic cardiologist there. It was a real treat to see Jiwen who was one the chief residents during my first year at UCLA, and to learn about her progress and plans for the future.

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