1. < Message from the Chair

This is a time of transition to many who have called the UCLA Department of Medicine (DoM) home, as they continued their training to become internal medicine specialists. A little over a week ago we celebrated the graduation of our senior resident class, and the passing of the baton to the incoming chief residents. Our internal medicine residency program represents that largest number of trainees in the DoM. They are a highly accomplished group of LEADERS whose time with us has prepared them well to make a huge impact in their chosen fields. As we bid our residents farewell, I am confident that they will Lead in Innovation, Transform Care and Advance Health for All.

Congratulations to the UCLA Internal Medicine Residency Program Class of 2026!

On June 13 the DoM sent another class of internal medicine residents off to make their mark in medicine and the world. I believe I speak for all of us in the department when I express my tremendous pride in all they have achieved during their time in the UCLA Internal Medicine Residency Program, and I am confident that the future of our profession is in very capable hands. To those who will continue with us in fellowships, I look forward to welcoming you back as colleagues. To those who are heading off to new adventures, please be sure to stay in touch. I know that you have found many mentors and friendships here that you will treasure for the rest of your life. 

I would also like to congratulate the residents, fellows, faculty and staff members who received awards at the graduation ceremony:

I would like to note that three of the four faculty teaching award winners — Dr. Kan, Dr. Monto and Dr. Kaneshiro — are based at the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center (GLA-VA). Their excellence attests to the exceptional resident education the DoM strives to provide at all of our sites throughout UCLA Health. It is an honor to work and teach alongside you!

A Fond Farewell to the Brady Bunch

I would next like to acknowledge the exceptional work of the 2025-2026 UCLA Internal Medicine Program Chief Residents, better known as the Brady Bunch. At every institution, chief residents are critical to the success of resident physicians, serving as guides, sounding boards, peers and liaisons between trainees and program leaders. They must also be outstanding leaders themselves, advocating for changes to the residency program that keep residency curricula and opportunities evolving with the demands of the field. 

Chief residents in the UCLA Internal Medicine Residency Program are the best of the best — and the Brady Bunch was no exception. It seems like just yesterday we were welcoming them as our new leaders; the positivity, zeal and dedication they have displayed in the year since has made an indelible impact not only on our residents, but on everyone they have worked with here in the DoM.

Here’s what the Brady Bunch said about their chief year at UCLA:

Relive some of our chiefs’ favorite moments from the past year in the video below. Congratulations to all of you; and thank you for your service to our residents and to the future of our profession. You will be missed! 

Hear more reflections from the Brady Bunch in the video below. They may bring tears to your eyes.

A Day in the Life: Lily Ravel Van Tongeren, MD

As it goes for many of our fellows, no two days of the week are alike for family medicine physician Lily Ravel Van Tongeren, MD, better known to her patients and colleagues as “Dr. Lily.” What is consistent? Hitting the snooze button.

“Those moments of having someone follow up with you and feel safe in your care are the moments that I look forward to, even if they’re not just specific to the specialty care that I also provide as an LGBTQIA+ health-focused physician,” Dr. Lily said. 

Those special moments help Dr. Lily weather the many challenges that come with her career, such as frequent struggles to obtain insurance coverage for certain kinds of care or gaining the trust of patients with trauma or who previously suffered from the consequences of other healthcare providers’ knowledge gaps. It also helps to identify what is within her control.

“I can create a super affirming, patient-centered space,” Dr. Lily said. “I can stay up to date on all the current guidelines, and I can make sure that I advocate within my own institution when, or if, a system falls short.” 

Having others to lean on, such as mentors and colleagues across disciplines, really helps, she added. 

“This work that we do, especially through the fellowship, is really team- and community-based,” Dr. Lily said. "There are so many different players participating in the care of every patient, and so it's exciting work." 

Following fellowship graduation, Dr. Lily will continue providing primary and gender-affirming care in the UCLA primary care clinic where she is currently based. She looks forward to continuing to offer primary care for individuals living with HIV as well as HIV prevention services and high resolution anoscopy, a leading-edge type of anal cancer screening that she has been learning over the past year. 

Dr. Lily noted the poetry of her LGBTQ+ healthcare fellowship drawing to a close during Pride Month. 

“Every day in our office is Pride Month. Pride Month is a celebration, and it’s a call to action — it’s honoring the courage of those who have fought and continue to fight for the rights of people to live authentically and love openly,” she said. “Pride is a reminder that visibility has always been super powerful, and that equity in healthcare is not something that we should take for granted.” 

Dr. Lily added that she is grateful for all that she has learned in the past year that will help her excel in caring for people in the LGBTQ+ community.

“I feel so lucky that I work at UCLA, where we have so many amazing resources and are on the cutting-edge of care,” she said. Dr. Lily noted that she was able to provide long-acting HIV prevention medication right after they received FDA approval, a landmark achievement in which LEADERS here in the DoM played a pivotal role. 

“Being in a setting where I was able to watch evidence-based guidelines and medicine evolve and then be able to immediately put them into practice has been so special, unique and unbelievably rewarding,” Dr. Lily said. What’s more, many of the patients that we see here at UCLA participate in clinical trials and other forms of research that influence the guidelines and treatments that can change the course of their conditions. 

“I think that I'm at the forefront of some medical advances that are really being shaped by this community that I'm caring for,” she said.

DoM Faculty Honored for Excellence at UCLA Santa Monica Board of Advisors Awards

Every year the board of advisors at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center (SMMC) awards exceptional physicians for their contributions to the outstanding patient care, research and medical education that takes place at SMMC. DoM faculty are always well-represented among the honorees, and this year was no different. Geriatrician Grace I. Chen, MD and Meds-Peds physician Nate VanderVeen, MD — who was recently promoted to director of the Med-Peds hospitalist service — were both awarded Inspirational Physician Awards, while Tony H. Kamel, MD, who serves as the leader of the Opioid Stewardship and Care Plan Committee, received a Collaboration Award. 

“The demands of this profession can be immense, and knowing that the empathy and dedication poured into daily patient interactions have resonated with others is incredibly fulfilling,” she said. “This award reinforces my commitment to whole person care and inspires me to continue serving our community with the highest level of integrity and care.” 

Dr. Chen feels that an inspirational physician is one who possesses a blend of exceptional clinical expertise and profound emotional intelligence. They first and foremost possess the empathy necessary to look beyond a past diagnosis and see the person experiencing it; they listen actively and allow patients to feel heard and respected, which builds an essential foundation of trust. Additionally, they are also resilient leaders who maintain an anchoring, calm presence in high-pressure environments. 

“They lead by example, fostering collaboration and lifting up their entire care team,” Dr. Chen said. “They also possess humility and curiosity — medicine evolves rapidly, and the best physicians remain lifelong students. They are secure enough in their expertise to acknowledge what they do not know, and they treat every patient encounter as an opportunity to learn, improve and connect.”

“Through his commitment to listening, connecting and caring, Dr. VanderVeen reminds us that medicine is not only about treating illness — it’s about caring for people,” the nominator said. 

Dr. VanderVeen completed a chief resident year at in the UCLA Internal Medicine Residency Program last year. He noted that as someone who is still navigating his professional identity, the award signifies to him that the hard work and sacrifice he has put into his career as a physician have resulted in something meaningful for patients and their families — and that the people he works with feel heard and valued as integral voices on the healthcare team.

“That feeling is extremely validating,” Dr. VanderVeen said. "On a personal level, I'm always working on finding ways to grow and learn to become a better human being, and this award is validating that I am on the right path in my journey of lifelong learning.” 

Dr. VanderVeen feels that most inspirational physicians are those who dedicate themselves to science and medicine; who honor the human behind the illness; and who are steadfast in their pursuit of improving the lives of those around them. 

“It requires careful listening, curiosity, a commitment to self-growth, a willingness to inhabit the ‘gray’ spaces of medicine and humanity, and the hope that challenging questions can be answered,” he said. In his own work as a physician and a leader, he often follows the advice of a close friend. 

“They always say, ‘The way you do one thing is the way you do everything,’” Dr. VanderVeen said. “I really like that phrase to remind myself to stay present and really take pride in doing my best, no matter how simple the task.”

He also shared that one of the most fulfilling parts of his work as a Med-Peds hospitalist and primary care physician is the opportunity to build lasting relationships with his patients. 

“I love my job. Full stop,” he said. “I get to see people of all ages, in all stages of life and in every state of health. I get to witness personal tragedy and joyous celebrations within the span of an hour. And I get to experience this with incredibly caring and brilliant colleagues who inspire me to be the best version of myself every day as part of an effective care team.”

He added that in his new leadership role as director of the Med-Peds hospitalist service, he has enjoyed imagining and designing a version of medical care that is tailored to the unique needs of patients with developmental differences and those with lifelong conditions to positively influence their healthcare experience. 

“Shout out to my amazing colleagues and collaborators — the medical assistants, nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians, phlebotomists, radiology technicians, environmental services, nutrition services and administrators who truly make the healthcare experience something special for our patients!” he said. 

“This kind of cross-disciplinary collaboration is no small feat, and the results speak for themselves. His efforts have led to more consistent prescribing practices, reduced unnecessary IV opioid use and stronger patient-provider communication,” the nominator’s letter said. “The impact is measurable, reflected in patient satisfaction scores, length of stay and readmission rates.” 

From Dr. Kamel’s perspective, collaboration across multiple departments and specialties is essential to high-quality patient care, including in the context of chronic pain and opioid use management. 

“Otherwise, our interventions would not be possible,” he said. “I regularly collaborate with other hospitalists, chronic pain physicians, addiction medicine physicians and relevant subspecialists to ensure that we are creating safe, effective pain plans for our patients. The input and expertise from our specialists are invaluable and key to achieving our goals.” 

In the nomination letter, Dr. Kamel’s nominator also noted that his “passion, dedication and collaborative spirit make him truly deserving of this recognition." I could not agree more, and I believe the same can be said for Grace and Nate as well. Congratulations to all!

In continued celebration of collaboration, I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the fantastic work of our hospital administrative staff. They keep the engine of our patient care mission running in the hospitals throughout our healthcare system, and I am deeply grateful for all that they do. Here are some photos from a team-building event for which they came together back in April.

What are the goals of the UCLA Department of Medicine (DoM) Office of Community Engagement and Inclusive Excellence (CEIE)? 

The overall goal of CEIE is to introduce to staff, trainees and faculty to community engagement and inclusive excellence approaches to advance outstanding scholarship/innovation and the highest level of compassionate, high-quality care for our patients. To this end the CEIE strives to: 1) help promote awareness and open conversations to build a thriving and inclusive internal community that seeks to practice excellence with compassion, 2) leverage bi-directional knowledge exchange with community-based organizations and community-serving agencies to enhance our skills to better serve all, but with an emphasis on those with less, and 3) promote an evidenced based understanding of socio-demographic characteristics as this is critical to patient centered and truly personalized care.

What are some examples of the community engagement work the office does?

The two main activities right now are 1) the creation/expansion of safety net partnerships with Federally Qualified Health Centers, Olive View-Medical Center, MLK JR. Hospital and others, led by Dr. Dan Kozman and 2) DoM LA led by Dr. Alejandra Casillas to establish more tangible relations between the DoM and many community-based organizations and community-serving agencies.

We are also partnering with the UCLA DoM Office of Wellness and wellness champions to develop and support initiatives that can bring a stronger feeling of inclusion and community within the department of medicine.

What kind of educational initiatives does the CEIE office conduct?

We have a series of training activities with the trainees and new faculty that focus on strategies to enhance health equity, such as advocacy at the institutional level and, for those interested, advocacy at a greater society level. The latter is commonly accomplished through professional organizations as well as community-led organizations that have shared missions. We also do workshops grounded in case studies on implicit biases and how to handle them when they arise in the clinical setting in order to make sure patients, staff, trainees and faculty have the tools to create as supportive an environment as possible.

Additionally, we sponsor select lectures and the annual Grand Rounds Health Equity Story Slam. The equity story slam involves brief presentations that highlight cases faculty or residents have encountered. They then share strategies they’ve used or wish existed to help overcome what are usually man-made barriers that have left their patients in poor health and despair.

What personal education educational or professional experience have prepared you for the work you do today leading the CEIE office?

After doing my nephrology fellowship and starting as an assistant professor at UCLA, I moved to Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) and MLK Jr. Hospital where I spent 20 years of my career. There I was immersed in an underresourced community with the stark paucity of life- and health-affirming resources and opportunities that lead to health disparities. These inequities don’t happen by accident — for African Americans and American Indians they are driven by policies and practices that began hundreds of years ago and continue today, sometimes led by people who are dedicated to worsening these inequities and sometimes by people meaning well but unaware or unwilling to stop the policies or practices that underlie the inequities. We add lessons related to these issues and more into our educational activities.

At the same time, I began working with community partners to ensure the work we did was most relevant for the local residents. In particular I worked with the late Dr. Loretta Jones who founded Healthy African American Families in 1992 to conduct community-based participatory research approaches to address maternal-fetal health through a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) grant with UCLA School of Public Health and CDU. It began a long partnership with her that slowly moved community partnered approaches from public health, sociology and other non-medicine disciplines into medicine which, at that time, patients and communities were only viewed as clinical trial participants.

This work eventually influenced National Institutes of Health (NIH) to embrace community partnered research approaches in most of the NIH institutes to address critical health disparities such as low infant birth weight and high infant mortality, diabetes and obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer, childhood asthma, exposure to community violence, depression and more by leveraging community insights and expertise to jointly solve health problems and ensure research efforts and results accrued to the communities.

What motivates you to continue this work?

My desire is to make a difference in lives of people by addressing the deeply embedded inequities in society and health across many groups, and to use my voice for those whose voices were not invited to the table. This includes helping to counter the too many efforts to deny that inequities exist and/or to assign inequities as due to innate attributes of one’s group identity(ies) rather than due to what society has done and continues to do to a given group because of their identity. For me, if we are not here to help those less fortunate, then we are just taking up space.

What is most rewarding to you about leading community engagement and inclusive excellence efforts in the DoM?

I get to work in a department where most of the faculty, staff and trainees are dedicated to providing quality care to all and support leveraging our positionality to help many marginalized communities so that they might have better access to quality resources and opportunities. Helping more and more people in DoM recognize the interdepedence and interconnection between all of us in hope that we might then act as such is the greatest reward I can have from this role.

What is the personal significance of Juneteenth to you?

It is a reminder of the many contradictions of America, contradictions that remain today. It is also a reminder to me that despite coming from enslaved ancestors and being a child of pre-civil rights, I have been fortunate to have a life I never expected. Our family on my mother’s side were enslaved on a plantation in Gaithersburg, Maryland, where the slave quarters remain fully intact today, as shown in the photo. In Maryland slavery was abolished November 1, 1864, nearly two years after the Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863), but earlier than Texas when it became actualized on June 19, 1865, leading to the freedom of a most of the remaining slaves and commemorated as Juneteenth. Once freed our family was lucky not to be forced back into sharecropping like many others. And so, our family had opportunities many other formerly enslaved families did not and was able to do well relative to many other formerly enslaved families. That understanding instills in me a sense of responsibility to make sure I leverage my privileges to help create a society that supports many other formerly enslaved families and many others who have less. Here in the DoM I get to live this work each day.

Don't Forget to Take the 2026 DoM Wellness Survey!

The annual DoM Faculty Wellness Survey is live and awaiting your input! The DoM Office of Wellness has extended the deadline to end of day today, 6/22, so if you have not submitted your responses this is your last chance to do so! Visit the link here to participate.

Dale

P.S.

In reflecting on the graduation of our residents, I wanted to add my personal farewell and best wishes to our graduates and to give a special shout-out to the outgoing Brady Bunch Chiefs! I enjoyed working with you throughout the year and watched with a sense of pride at all that you accomplished.

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