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This week’s post is special to me because it exemplifies our department’s commitment to supporting the medical workforce development of our region as we welcome new residents, say farewell to accomplished subspecialist trainees, welcome new faculty to our department and equip them for long-term success. These exceptional colleagues embody our department’s commitment to LEADERSHIP in innovation, transformative clinical care and to advancing health for all.

Welcome, New Interns!

A new class of residents has arrived! Back in the spring, the UCLA Department of Medicine (DoM) celebrated another fantastic Residency Match Day, and now it is time to officially welcome them to UCLA. Interns for all the residency programs in the DoM met in Westwood the week of June 15 for orientation. It is clear that this exceptional group is eager to grow, and I am excited to work and learn alongside them as they do! 

During new resident orientation, interns complete many tasks to prepare them to work in the clinic, from filling out I9s and getting fingerprint scans to obtaining life support certifications. There are also plentiful opportunities for them to meet and get to know their fellow trainees.

First year internal medicine resident Samantha Cheng, MD, who is part of the primary care track, said she felt nervous but excited to get to know her co-interns and the other resident classes. 

“I’m looking forward to calling everyone family pretty soon,” she said. “I can’t believe it’s only going to be three short years, but yesterday I met some of the graduating residents, and they were so close and so supportive of each other. I can’t wait for us to become like that too.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Cheng’s co-intern Sandra Kong, MD also looked forward to bonding with her fellow trainees through shared hardships and triumphs. 

“Over the past few days, we’ve met everyone from the program director to our future co-interns, and what’s really been emphasized is that we’re here in a learning environment, we’re a team, and we’re all going to come together to become great physicians,” Dr. Kong said. 

Dennis Pales, MD, an internal medicine resident in the primary care track, shared Dr. Kong and Dr. Cheng’s excitement about getting to know their cohort. He added that he is ready to be in the clinic. 

“I’m excited to get to know my new patient panel and work with them longitudinally in the clinic environment,” he said. 

Internal medicine intern Aaron Nguyen, MD cannot wait to meet his patients either. 

“I think we all came to the medical field to be able to support patients and their families, and I’m really excited to start that journey,” Dr. Nguyen said. 

I would also like to give a shoutout to the education team for their outstanding work coordinating this year’s orientation — particularly Tricia Barrow, who oversees our processes for residency recruitment and onboarding. I greatly appreciate all that you do!

Please join me in welcoming our outstanding new trainees and thanking the education team for keeping our residency program running smoothly!

A Salute to Our Fellowship Graduates

Fellowship graduations have taken place throughout this month, and I could not be prouder to send so many exceptional specialists out into the world. Some of them will remain here at UCLA, while others are taking on exciting faculty positions elsewhere or additional steps in their careers that will no doubt present challenges and rewards. These transitions remind of the important role that our department plays in medical workforce development in our region, state and country. 

We have many fellowship programs and I have chosen to write about graduates from a subset of our fellowship programs (listed alphabetically) and refer you to a link at the end, that will provide details regarding where everyone is going, and relevant social media posts. Learn more about where our some of our fellowship program graduates are headed and enjoy the photos from their commencement celebrations !

Clinical Informatics

The UCLA Clinical Informatics is sending off three fellows this year. Program Director Douglas S. Bell, MD, PhD shared that they have had a wonderful impact on the implementation of artificial intelligence and other clinical systems. 

“Their publications and posters have put them on the national stage,” he said. 

I have no doubt that their influence will continue to be felt far and wide! Their next steps will take them to the following places:

• Aaron T. Chin, MD will join the faculty in the UCLA Division of Clinical Immunology and Allergy.
• Kevin Truong, MD, MBA will head to the University of California, Irvine to join the internal medicine faculty.
• Nina Zhu, MD, MS will join the pediatrics faculty of AltaMed.

Electrophysiology

Two exceptional physicians graduated from the UCLA Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship Program on June 3. Charlie Lin, MD and Michael Jiang, MD have accomplished much during their time as fellows, and I have no doubt that there is much in store for them as they launch their careers as electrophysiology attendings at institutions in Northern California and Colorado, respectively.

Endocrinology

The UCLA Endocrinology Fellowship Program celebrated the commencement of four fellows on June 24. They have achieved much during their time here, and much more is to come.

Here is where our endocrinology fellows will be heading next: 

• Elyssa Berg, MD will join the Houston Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
• Kevin Zhang, MD will join Mission Heritage Medical Group in Mission Viejo. 
• Katayoun Khoshbin, MD and Diana Torres Pinzon, MD, MPH will both remain here in the UCLA Division of Endocrinology. Dr. Khoshbin will practice in Santa Monica, while Dr. Torres Pinzon will join the office in Downtown Los Angeles.

Gastroenterology

Eight outstanding fellows graduated from the UCLA Digestive Diseases Fellowship Program on June 20. Among them were Lillian Dawit, MD, who also received the program’s Compassionate Care Award — a faculty-nominated accolade that recognizes a graduating fellow who embodies humanistic qualities in patient care — and Timothy Zaki, MD, who received the program’s Housestaff Teaching Award, a resident-nominated honor for a fellow who is committed to education and has a significant positive impact on residents.

Here are the next steps on their career paths: 

• Megan Aarondon, MD, MS will join a private practice in Ann Arbor, Mich. 
• Phillip Chen, MD will join Kaiser Permanente in Redwood City.
• Punya Chittajallu, MD will join a private practice in Dallas, Texas.
• Dr. Dawit will join Sharpe HealthCare in San Diego.
• Sohn Kim, MD, PhD will continue training as a physician-scientist in the UCLA STAR Fellowship Program. 
• Janice Oh, MD will join Kaiser Permanente in San Diego. 
• Dr. Zaki will join Hoag Hospital Irvine in Irvine. 

Geriatrics

The UCLA Geriatrics Fellowship Program celebrated the commencement of ten rockstar graduates during a ceremony on June 17. As Program Director Erin Cook, MD shared, the class of 2026 is an absolutely phenomenal group who have shined at every turn during their time in the program.

Here is a rundown of their plans: 

• Lauren Matsuno, MD will join PACE LA Jewish Home in Reseda and West LA.
• Olivia Yang, MD will take some time off before joining AltaMed PACE in Norwalk.
• Suyee Win, MD will join Austin Regional Clinic Senior Center in Austin, Texas. 
• Zakir Ali, MD will take some time off before joining AltaMed PACE in Huntington Park. 
• Matthew Quan, MD will join the faculty of the UCLA Division of Geriatrics. 
• Sasha Parra, MD will conduct research on reducing care gaps for elderly low-income patients as a Bruin Scholar. 
• Jen Yim, MD will join Kaiser Permanente in West L.A. 
• Kelly Cheung-Warren, MD will continue her professional development in the UCLA Geriatric Palliative Care Fellowship Program. 
• Deborah Oyeyemi Walton, MD will become faculty in the geriatrics division at Duke School of Medicine.

During the commencement ceremony, the fellowship program also acknowledged the hard work of geriatrics education LEADERS with three special awards. Mailee Hess, MD, chief of the division of general internal medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, received the Arthur Cherkin Award; Heather D’Adamo, MD, a clinical professor of geriatrics at UCLA and VA-GLA, received the Program Director Award; and Grace Chen, MD received the Faculty Recognition Award. 

Infectious Diseases

The six physicians in the UCLA Multicampus Fellowship in Infectious Diseases Class of 2026 celebrated their commencement on June 8. Fellowship Program Director Christopher Graber, MD, MPH commended them for putting the patient first as they refined their academic and clinical skills on the road to independent practice.

Here’s where they are going next: 

• Rashini Jayaratne, MD will join the infectious diseases (ID) faculty at Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital.
• Mario Jamarillo, MD will become fee basis faculty in the ID section at Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Medical Center (VA-GLA). 
• Hera Maryam, MD, MPH will join the UCLA-West Valley Hospital as director for clinical epidemiology, and Lucy Tran, MD will join UCLA-West Valley Hospital as director of antimicrobial stewardship.
• Aleksandr Gorin, MD, PhD will remain here in the DoM as faculty in the infectious diseases division. 
• Lilian Fung, MD is joining a private practice in Orange County.

Interventional Pulmonology 

The UCLA Interventional Pulmonology Program celebrated the graduation of Jonathon Munoz, MD with a special dinner on June 18. I am pleased to share that Dr. Munoz will join our faculty in the UCLA interventional pulmonology (IP) section and will serve as the new IP program director at the GLA-VA. 

Pain Medicine and Rehabilitation

The UCLA Pain Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) Fellowship Program graduated five new specialists during a special ceremony on June 9.

Here is where the graduating fellows are off to next: 

• Michael Hernandez, MD will head to Westlake, Calif. to join the Southern California Orthopedic Institute. 
• Monika Schmitt, MD will enter private practice in Dallas. 
• Harman Grewal, MD will enter private practice in Fresno. 
• Michael Bazzi, MD will head south to join the orthopedics department at the University of California, San Diego. 
• Michelle Jin, MD will join Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco. 

Congratulations to all! Visit this page to see where other fellowship graduates are heading. 

As the class of 2026 prepares for the next phase of their careers, the department has welcomed a new class of fellows. Their orientation is in full swing as we speak, and we cannot wait to meet them! I will celebrate their onboarding in the July 13 edition of the newsletter. Stay tuned!

Congratulations to the 2026 MSCR Graduates!

Please join me in congratulating the new graduates of the UCLA Master of Science in Clinical Research (MSCR) MS Program! This two-year program, housed within the Clinical & Translational Science Institute, advances the clinical research careers of medical students and healthcare providers by teaching them how to design and conduct clinical research, successfully compete for funding, analyze data and interpret results, present research at meetings and more. This training will provide them with skills to become effective clinical investigators in their future careers.

Within the UCLA MSCR is a subprogram sponsored by the DoM called MSCR-IGNITE, which sponsors four DoM subspeciality fellows in their pursuit of MSCR degrees. This year’s MSCR-IGNITE graduates are hematology-oncology fellow Jordyn Silverstein, MD, MSc and rheumatology fellows Alana Haussmann, MD and David Kellner, MD.

Dr. Haussmann took part in the program because while she was comfortable reading literature and participating in research, she felt that she lacked many of the tools needed to independently design studies, critically appraise evidence and analyze data. 

“MSCR-IGNITE gave me a strong foundation in clinical research methodology and biostatistics, and, just as importantly, the confidence to take a research idea from concept to execution,” she said. 

Dr. Haussman added that her mentors in the program were approachable and invested in her success, and that their impact will be felt as she moves into a faculty role within the UCLA Division of Rheumatology with 75% protected time for research. She looks forwarding to building upon the foundation that MSCR-IGNITE provided as she launches an independent research program focused on pulmonary complications of connective tissue diseases. 

“I feel incredibly grateful,” Dr. Haussmann said. "The program was thoughtful, structured, and rigorous, while still providing the flexibility to pursue my own research interests. Looking back; it has been one of the most impactful parts of my fellowship training.” 

Other DoM graduates of the MSCR program include Beshoy Iksander, MD, an advanced cardiac imaging fellow at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and endocrinologist Henry Zelada Castro, MD. I look forward to seeing how you use all that you have learned to advance your careers in clinical research!

Exciting New Developments for the DMPG

One of the most impactful initiatives for clinical faculty in the DoM is the Department of Medicine Professional Group’s (DMPG) yearlong physician onboarding program, a curriculum that equips first year ambulatory and hospitalist clinicians with the skills and tools they need to thrive professionally and personally at UCLA. The final onboarding session for this year’s newest cohort concluded on June 24. 

The DMPG physician onboarding program includes a series of 11 didactic sessions, 6 division-specific clinical tools sessions and 2 patient-physician communications skills workshops. It also includes a program in which junior faculty are paired with new faculty to offer them guidance and support for day-to-day clinical operations. Participants also attend the fall annual DMPG meeting and spring conference and training, where they learn about promoting community engagement, inclusive excellence, and professional development through educational training.

To allow for continued professional education past the formal onboarding training, faculty participate in the peer coaching program aimed at providing personalized sessions to help them achieve short- and long-term goals in practicing at UCLA.

This year, the DMPG was excited to partner with Joshua N. Khalili, MD to expand the DoM professional coaching program to our year 2 onboarding faculty to mitigate physician burnout. As a result, participation in the program has increased engagement, referrals, collaboration, and fostered a stronger sense of community especially since our faculty care for patients across multiple locations, from as far north as San Luis Obispo to as far south as Palos Verdes.

As this year’s DMPG onboarding program concludes, the DoM Professional Education Committee would like to thank everyone in the department who has made this year a success, including the DMPG executive board, the UCLA DoM Office of Wellness, DoM peer coaches, the executive chair’s office, faculty and staff Instructors and facilitators, clinical and division chiefs, regional ambulatory medical directors, clinical directors, division administrators, and administrative staff volunteers. This program wouldn’t have been possible without your dedication and commitment. 

Thank you so much to the DOM professional Education Committee members and course directors Janet P. Pregler, MD, Arielle Bilek, MD, Michelle R. Hwang, MD, Michael F. Ayoub, MD, and William P. Cope, MD as well as to the DMPG administrative team — Joash Wampande, Paloma Rangel, Cynthia Montes, and Nelly Leon — for their leadership in making this important initiative a success. Join me in wishing our faculty success as they continue to lead in innovation, transform care, and advance health for all. Now, please meet the faculty who completed onboarding!

I am also pleased to share that the DMPG has elected new members to its executive board. They are Sidharth Anand, MD MBA; Matthew Carroll, MD; Tamas Dolinay, MD PhD; and Caleb G. Hseih, MD. They will each serve a three-year term, which began July 1. I am grateful to them for their dedication to their colleagues, and I look forward to working closely with them. 

Additionally, the DMPG has appointed Hawkin Woo, MD to the DoM Professional Education Committee (PEC), effective July 1. Dr. Woo serves as associate chief medical informatics officer for ambulatory services, a health sciences clinical professor of medicine and a primary care physician in the UCLA Division of General Internal Medicine. As a member of the PEC, he will work with the DMPG executive board, the DoM wellness committee and the DMPG president to organize the DMPG Physician Onboarding Program, including its annual meeting; annual conference and training; and education series. 

Finally, I am proud to announce the DMPG’s Outstanding Practice Partner Physician Nominees. These individuals have gone above and beyond to welcome and support their new physician colleagues, serving as mentors and resources to help them navigate their division, answer questions and build connections in their new role. Please join me in thanking them for their dedication to our missions and to the success of our physician community. 

2026 DMPG Outstanding Practice Partner Physician Nominees

Welcome New Faculty

As we celebrate our colleagues who have officially completed onboarding, let me close by welcoming our newest faculty colleagues in our department! Please join me in extending a warm welcome to the faculty who have joined us over the past few months. We are delighted that you have chosen to join our community and to contribute to our department’s vision to Lead in Innovation, Transform Care and Advance Health for All.

Dale

P.S.

Last week, our senior executive academic vice-chair, Dr. Greg Brent achieved a milestone birthday! And if you are wondering our choice of 12 cupcakes is significant.

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