Welcome to all students, trainees, staff and faculty to the start of a new academic year.
We are welcoming 175 new medical students, almost two-thirds of whom are women and more than a third are from historically under-represented backgrounds in medicine. We are also pleased to welcome 87 graduate students, 437 GME trainees, and 30 postdocs who have recently joined our community. We are honored that you have chosen DGSOM to continue your education and training.
We have 11 new faculty and 402 new staff and student hires since July, including many of whom have moved here from either out of state or around the world. I hope you are beginning to discover the rewards of our community and becoming familiar with our campus.
I hope to meet many of you at the upcoming DGSOM Community Social, which is sponsored by the Cultural North Star, on Thursday, Sept. 15, from 12:30 – 2 pm in the Geffen Hall Revive Patio. This social will be an opportunity for us all to meet together with new friends and colleagues for light refreshments and conversation.
At DGSOM, we are committed to the common mission of delivering impactful research, education, patient care, and community engagement. The following sites can help you stay apprised of school and health system activities.
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The DGSOM website features news and announcements. This recent story about the Dumont–UCLA Transplant Center team is recommended. They were recently awarded two grants totaling $11.5 million for research aimed at making donated organs last longer and helping transplant recipients live longer, healthier lives. Congratulations to Dr. Jerzy Kupiec-Weglinski, UCLA’s Paul I. Terasaki Professor of Surgery and vice chair of basic research in the surgery department, and to his entire team for these awards. If you have an idea for a story on the website, you can submit it here.
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UCLA Health Connect Blog. During the pandemic, we continued our medical school pathway programs, which help to increase the diversity of the physician workforce. The DGSOM continued its 40-year UCLA PREP, SHPEP, and MEDPEP virtually. Read more about these important programs on the blog.
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U News is the employee newsletter and is emailed at the start of each month. Check out recent stories here. The Equity, Diversity and Climate Survey was recently highlighted, which you are encouraged to complete to help guide our commitment to fostering an academic health system and school of medicine that embodies diversity inclusion and equity.
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Our faculty and staff are often quoted in local and national media sources, serving as health experts to the general public on important topics. Every Friday, you receive an email from uclahealthnews@mednet.ucla.edu with the week’s top news stories.
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Visit the UCLA Health Newsroom for recent research and clinical news. You might be interested to read about research led by Dr. David Goodman-Meza, assistant professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases, whose team used artificial intelligence to rapidly collect data on overdose deaths, which in turn is anticipated to facilitate a more rapid public health response.
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The DGSOM Weekly Digest is emailed every Tuesday. You can submit your event or announcement here.
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Other stories are featured on the Mednet homepage under Announcements and Community of U and on our social media pages (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter).
I shared my vision and commitment as Interim Dean in July, which is available here.
Our welcome and best wishes to all of you for a fulfilling great year ahead,
Steven Dubinett, MD
Interim Dean, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Associate Vice Chancellor, UCLA
