Student Spotlight

Medical student Melanie Ramirez smiles during a clinical training exercise
Spotlight, Students

A Future Physician Inspired by Family Values

UCLA medical student Melanie Ramirez is becoming a doctor who wants to deconstruct health disparities.

3 min read
Saida Wiltz Family
Spotlight, Students

Three Bruin Generations Celebrate the Family's First Doctor

Saida Wiltz is a UCLA med student whose mom graduated in 2001 and grandparents graduated in the 1970s

3 min read
Triniti Gistand was among the new UCLA medical students who learned about vital signs, cardiac arrest and emergency medical services from the UCLA Center for Prehospital Care.
Spotlight, Students

From active duty to UCLA

Triniti Gistand, a second-year medical student at UCLA, is no stranger to caring for patients in high-pressure situations

2 min read
Timothy Ko, a first-year student at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, flew helicopters in the U.S. Army.
Spotlight, Students

Student cherishes similarities between the military and medicine

Timothy Ko, a first-year student at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, flew helicopters in the U.S. Army.

4 min read
DGSOM medical student Bethel Bayrau at her White Coat Ceremony
Students

The DGSOM Student Improving Human Health on a Global Scale

UCLA medical student Bethel Bayrau is becoming a doctor who strives to maximize her positive impact.

3 min read
Darwin and Jennifer Gutierrez, DGSOM alumni who fell in loving during medical school, posing on an orange couch
Students

A Bruin Love Story: Darwin and Jennifer Gutierrez

A DGSOM alumni couple on the challenges and rewards of dating while becoming a doctor.

6 min read
UCLA PhD student Nikki Cheung, pictured here investigating antibiotic resistance in the laboratory.
Research & Labs, Spotlight, Students

The UCLA PhD Student Hoping to Disarm Bacteria

UCLA PhD student Nikki Cheung wants to use structural biology to disarm bacteria and mitigate antibiotic resistance.

3 min read
Medical student Alexander Dymond, pictured here with his family, shares his story of becoming a doctor
Spotlight

He thought he'd never make it. Now he's class president.

Medical student Alexander Dymond is becoming a doctor who improves health equity and accessibility in communities around the world.

3 min read
Match Day 2025
Students

Match Day milestone for UCLA medical students

For Match Day 2025, 148 students at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA excitedly gathered to learn their fate for the next three to seven years.

2 min read
UCLA residents and med-school alumni Makana Williams and Rigoberto Perez Hernandez smile at each other wearing graduation robes in front of an academic building.
Spotlight

A Bruin Love Story: Makana Williams and Rigoberto Perez Hernandez

These current UCLA residents fell in love during med school. Romance changed the way they each envisioned becoming a doctor.

3 min read
Medical student Laz Curry wearing a t-shirt from his undergraduate alma mater, Yale.
Students

The Foster Kid Who Became a Hospital Corpsman

UCLA medical student Laz Curry is becoming a doctor for patients who count on emergency services as their primary mode of care.

5 min read
Justin Pi, pictured here working in a lab setting, shares his experience of getting a PhD at UCLA
Research & Labs, Spotlight

A structural biology approach to improving Duchenne muscular dystrophy outcomes

UCLA PhD student Justin Pi studies structural biology to improve Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) outcomes

3 min read
UCLA’s first medical informatics PhD, Samir Akre, pictured with his family on the day of his dissertation defense.
Research & Labs, Spotlight, Students

Meet UCLA’s First Medical Informatics PhD

Samir Akre is getting a PhD in medical informatics at UCLA. He studies how consumer wearable devices can inform mental health interventions.

5 min read
PhD Student Rochelle Lai in the Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology program
Research & Labs, Students

Clinical Dietitian Pursues Basic Science Research to Help Patients

UCLA PhD student Rochelle Lai investigates ways for treating metabolic diseases at the cellular level.

5 min read
Medical student Shannon Richardson, pictured here in front of Geffen Hall, shares her story of becoming a doctor.
Students

From Aspiring Olympian to Future Urological Surgeon-Scientist

UCLA medical student Shannon Richardson is becoming a doctor committed to improving global health equity.

5 min read