Teaching Philosophy & Expert Faculty

Our Philosopy of Teaching 

The development of our new curriculum will be guided by our philosophy of teaching. These principles were developed in collaboration with faculty, staff & students.

1. DGSOM reflects UCLA “True Bruin” values and embodies the Cultural North Star.
2. DGSOM cultivates a spirit of inquiry and encourages critical thinking.
3. DGSOM promotes excellence over competence in learning.
4. DGSOM fosters meaningful partnership and engagement between teacher and learner.
5. DGSOM embraces pedagogy that empowers the learner and fosters active learning.

Our Teaching Faculty 

Base Camp Course Director: Natasha Wheaton, M.D

Scientific Foundations of Medicine Course Director: Esteban Dell’Angelica, Ph.D.
Scientific Foundations of Medicine Leadership Team: Elena Stark M.D., Ph.D., James Bisley, Ph.D, William ‘Bill’ Melega, Ph.D., Tara Vijayan, M.D., Jason Napolitano, M.D.
Scientific Foundations of Medicine Faculty: Ari Weinreb, Carla Janzen, Phuong-Chi Pham, Christopher Cooper, Gary Schiller, Holly Middlekauff, Jane Weinreb, Kirsten Tillisch, Lauren Nathan, Misty Richards, Quynh Pham.

Early Authentic Clinical Experience Director: Adriana Izquierdo, M.D.

Foundations of Practice Course Directors: Art Gomez & Peter Quiros
Foundations of Practice Faculty: Alan Chiem, Amanda Kosack, Amir Rouhani, Amit Levi, Antonio Pessegueiro, Arthur Cho, Arthur Gomez, Andrew Grock, Ashlyn Sakona, Arielle Sommer, Bahareh Gordon, Brandon Ito, Carl Burton, Diane Reed, Evan Shih, Faysal Saab, Formosa Chen, Henry Kirolos, Jaime Jordan, James H. Lee, Jason S. Lee, Jodi Friedman, Kathryn Melamed, Kevin Ikuta, Kris (Kristopher) Yoon, Lisa K. Lee, Lisa Zhao, Manuel Celedon, Michael Ayoub, Monica Sifuentes, Michelle Harvey, Myroslav Figura, Natasha Wheaton, Oladunni Adeyiga, Olivia Arreola-Owen, Peter Quiros, Pamela Tsing, Paul Salama, Rachel Brook, Sarah Gustafson, Sarah Goldgar, Satya Patel, Sherwin Hsu, Steve Lerman, Serena K. Wang, Tahlia Spector, Tina Nguyen, Tyler Larsen, Vikas Pabby, Zahir Basrai.

Learn more about Educators for Excellence

Intersessions Director: Antonio Pessegueiro

Theme Chairs: 
Shamsher Samra (Structural Racism & Health Equity Theme Co-Chair)
Lindsey Wells (Structural Racism & Health Equity Theme Co-Chair)

Whitney Arnold (Medical and Health Humanities Theme Chair )

Ashley Feinsinger (Ethics Theme Chair)

Clerkship Chairs:

Neurology: Yvette Bordelon
Psychiatry: Brandon Ito
Family Medicine: Yohualli Anaya; Monica Plesa
Medicine: Wendy Simon; Mark Munekata
OB-GYN: Aparna Sridhar
Pediatrics: Deb Lehman
Surgery: Ian MacQueen; Justin Wagner

DGSOM will post updates to teaching faculty as they are finalized.