Specialty Advisors for Career Exploration (ACE)
Find Your Mentor In Medical School
Career advising aligned with your professional interests.
The Specialty ACE program was launched in 2021 to enhance career development opportunities for medical students at all levels. The Specialty ACEs are experienced faculty advisors enthusiastic about mentoring medical school students in their specialty.
Roles and Responsibilities
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Establish a cohort of faculty members within their Department to support their advising efforts. Cohort members are medical school faculty members who span clinical and research arenas within their specialty.
- Serve as the "go-to person" within the Department when medical school students are interested in learning more about their specialty.
- Serve as the "go-to person" within the Department when other medical school faculty members, Deans, and College Chairs would like to refer a student to learn more about their specialty.
- Meet with medical students to explore their interests, and match students with potential mentors within their Department.
- Oversee the student “Specialty Interest Group,” or identify a faculty colleague to run with this responsibility.
- Help medical students navigate the application for residency process in their specialty.
Connect with a ACE Specialty
John S. Shin, MD
Director, Medical Student Education
JShin@mednet.ucla.edu
Judi A. Turner, MD, PhD
Vice Chair for Education
JATurner@mednet.ucla.edu
Michael O. Nguyen, MD, PhD, FAAD
Director of Medical Student Education at UCLA Dermatology
Monguyen@mednet.ucla.edu
Rebecca Bavolek, MD, FACEP, FAAEM
Associate Clinical Professor
RBavolek@mednet.ucla.edu
Tomer Begaz, MD
HS Clinical Professor
TBegaz@mednet.ucla.edu
Denise K. Sur, MD
Clinical Professor
dsur@mednet.ucla.edu
Paul A. Kedeshian, MD
Associate Clinical Professor
PKedeshian@mednet.ucla.edu
Travis Shiba, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor
TShiba@mednet.ucla.edu
Interested in learning more about Internal Medicine? Please complete this brief interest form so that we can connect you with one of our outstanding faculty advisors.
Neveen S. El-Farra, MD
Professor of Clinical Medicine
NElFarra@mednet.ucla.edu
Jodi L. Friedman, MD
Clinical Professor
JFriedman@mednet.ucla.edu
John Ly, MD
Assistant Clinical Professor
EJly@mednet.ucla.edu
Andrew Wilson, MD, MS, MBA
Assistant Professor
AMWilson@mednet.ucla.edu
Marvin Bergsneider, MD
Professor, Department of Neurosurgery
MBergsneider@mednet.ucla.edu
Jeremiah Johnson, MD
Professor, Department of Neurosurgery
jnjohnson@mednet.ucla.edu
Erica D. Oberman, MD
Associate Clinical Professor
EOberman@mednet.ucla.edu
Jo Ann A. Giaconi, MD
Clinical Professor
giaconi@jsei.ucla.edu
Gary Holland, MD
Clinical Professor
holland@jsei.ucla.edu
Sharon L. Hame, MD
Clinical Professor
SHame@mednet.ucla.edu
Zhen W. Mei, MD
Assistant Clinical Professor
ZMei@mednet.ucla.edu
Elena Stark, MD
Professor
EStark@mednet.ucla.edu
Deborah Lehman, MD
Clinical Professor & Assistant Dean
DLehman@mednet.ucla.edu
Meeryo C. Choe, MD
Assistant Clinical Professor
MChoe@mednet.ucla.edu
Dixie L. Aragaki, MD
Clinical Professor
dixie.aragaki@va.gov
Ginger Slack, MD
Assistant Clinical Professor
GSlack@mednet.ucla.edu
Ann C. Raldow, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor
ARaldow@mednet.ucla.edu
Theodore R. Hall, MD
Professor
THall@mednet.ucla.edu
Christian M. DeVirgilio, MD, FACS
Professor
cdevirgilio@lundquist.org
Areti Tillou, MD
Associate Professor
ATillou@mednet.ucla.edu
Jonathan Bergman, MD
Assistant Clinical Professor
JBergman@mednet.ucla.edu
Victor W. Nitti, MD
Professor
VNitti@mednet.ucla.edu