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.
- DGSOM reflects UCLA “True Bruin” values and embodies the Cultural North Star.
- DGSOM cultivates a spirit of inquiry and encourages critical thinking.
- DGSOM promotes excellence over competence in learning.
- DGSOM fosters meaningful partnership and engagement between teacher and learner.
- DGSOM embraces pedagogy that empowers the learner and fosters active learning.
Our Teaching Faculty
Base Camp Course Director: Natasha Wheaton
Scientific Foundations of Medicine Course Director: Esteban Dell’Angelica
Scientific Foundations of Medicine Leadership Team: Elena Stark, James Bisley, William ‘Bill’ Melega, Tara Vijayan, Jason Napolitano
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
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 Course Director: Antonio Pessegueiro
Discovery Course Director: Jaime Jordan
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)
Alan Chiem (Director, Ultrasound Education)
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.
