Education

Dear Applicant,

Thank you for your interest in Harbor-UCLA Medical Center’s emergency medicine residency program. I ranked Harbor-UCLA Medical Center as my first choice for residency training and, after graduating in 2015, have had the privilege to be this department’s clerkship director (2015 to 2020), associate residency program director (2020 to 2023), and residency program director (from 2023).

We are a safety net hospital in Los Angeles County that serves a diverse, underserved, and high-acuity patient population. We pride ourselves in our expert, compassionate care of our patients in addressing their acute concerns, and also are active in building and maintaining programs that address our patients’ needs after their visit. Our residents and faculty have been instrumental in addressing social determinants of the health of our patients including addressing food insecurity (Food Pharmacy), substance use disorder (MAT services, whole-person care programs), housing insecurity, medical-legal partnerships for those facing unfair housing or immigration practices, and longitudinal services for victims of violent crime (Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program and Trauma Recovery Center).

In addition, as over half of our patients self-identify as having limited English proficiency, we have in-person Spanish translation services and 24/7 immediate availability of telephonic/video interpreter services to address language justice issues that our patients face.

From our first round of graduates in 1980 until now, we have a history of producing outstandingcompassionate emergency physicians who become leaders in their departments and health systems, regionally and nationally. As the class of 2024 moves on to their careers, we will have graduated 572 residents from our program. Now, many of them are prominent names in emergency medicine, nationally and internationally

We have trained five presidents of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, presidents of the American Board of Emergency Medicine, presidents of the American College of Emergency Physicians, founders of major educational platforms, writers of seminal textbooks in our specialty, chairs of departments, and more. Wherever you go in emergency medicine, you are likely to run into a graduate of our program. This vast national alumni network has been invaluable to our graduates.

Our residents are truly outstanding, and we are fortunate to train some of the best residents in the country. Their commitment to advancing the health of our patients is unparalleled and working with our residents and patients keeps me excited to come to work every day. Outside of the emergency department, they engage in multiple important committees, projects, and academic pursuits.

The faculty you will work with during your time in our program are nationally recognized experts in their field and demonstrate unparalleled dedication to patient care and your education. Over the past few years alone, here is a small sample of the regional and national recognition that those you work with on shift (and our residents and fellows!) have received:

Our faculty group is relatively small but incredibly dedicated to our program and our mission. Our prior chair for 25 years and a pioneer in the field, Dr. Hockberger, retired in 2013 but still does two one-on-one shadow shifts with each of our first-year residents. Multiple other faculty members who have since retired also continue to give back to our program.

Our unique rounds process reflects our dedication to education and safe transitions. In our adult emergency department, we have an hour of protected time at the beginning and end of every shift where we go through our patients, hand them off safely, and use the board as a platform for dedicated education. At the end of rounds, we also have a multidisciplinary meeting to ensure our nurses and pharmacists are all on the same page for the plan of care.

We look forward to meeting you and sharing all the things that make our program wonderful.