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Student Service
In January 1997 , Ellen Beck , MD ,
THE INTEGRATED SCIENTIFIC
CURRICULUM also emphasizes problem solving and team-based learning . According to Savoia , who first came to UC San Diego School of Medicine as an intern in 1976 , medicine is now a “ team sport ,” where physicians , nurses , pharmacists , social workers , professor of family medicine and public physical therapists and others all health , and a team of medical students work together to give patients the and community partners , opened the first best possible care , and medical not-for-profit Student-Run Free Clinic in education needs to reflect that . the basement of the Pacific Beach United Methodist Church . Today , the clinic is
“ The days of the solitary genius are nationally recognized for providing care at over ,” Mandel agrees . “ Students no cost to underserved communities . can ’ t just study subject matter in classrooms and carrels , take a test
The clinic , now one of the medical school ’ s and learn how to be a physician . most popular electives , is staffed by UC They need to talk as much about
San Diego medical students under the what they don ’ t know as what supervision of faculty and licensed health they do know , ask questions and care professionals . Members from the work with their peers to solve fields of medicine , pharmacy , dentistry , problems . That ’ s what leads to social work , law and nursing collaborate lifelong learning , and that ’ s what in this transdisciplinary model . The clinic drives medicine forward .” currently has two sites in San Diego . “ Programs such as ours are necessary , both
At the same time , that personal to begin to address the enormous gaps touch that first attracted Jessee to and tattered holes in the safety net , and the charter class hasn ’ t changed . to train and inspire the next generation Under the Integrated Scientific of healthcare leaders to work with Curriculum , incoming classes are underserved communities ,” Beck says . divided into six “ communities ” of students who remain together for
Elissa Kim , MD ’ 17 , was attracted to UC their entire academic career . Each
San Diego for the Student-Run Free Clinic community has a faculty mentor and served as the women ’ s clinic manager and includes members from each in Pacific Beach and also cared for women year ’ s class , giving newcomers in Tijuana , Mexico . colleagues who can provide support
“ I came out of the experience stronger and and guidance as they face the
I learned a lot about differing cultures , challenges of medical school . medicine and myself ,” Kim says . “ I will take those skills with me wherever I
“ In my mind , the integrated practice medicine .” curriculum built a clinical-centered scaffolding that has helped me think
Learn more at : and problem-solve like the best meded . ucsd . edu / freeclinic diagnosticians , while never failing to emphasize the importance of patient-centered care ,” says Darrell Tran , MD ’ 15 , who now serves as chief resident in the Department of Anesthesiology at UC San Diego Health . “ I feel especially fortunate to have been an early part of the inspiring changes in our medical school ’ s curriculum .”
This philosophy continues to attract adventurous students like Tran and Jessee , yet the risk of an unknown reputation has vanished — today , the School of Medicine is routinely ranked in the top 20 medical schools in the nation by U . S . News & World Report .
Outside the classroom , the teambased approach is also embedded in the culture of the labs and clinics throughout the School of Medicine , UC San Diego Health and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences . And the old Marine Corps base surrounding campus has since grown into a hotbed of collaborative life science research partners , such as the Salk Institute for Biological Studies , The Scripps Research Institute , Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute and several others , many of which are powered by a diaspora of UC San Diego alumni .
It ’ s no surprise , for instance , that when Human Longevity Inc ., the nearby genetics-based healthcare firm founded by genomics pioneer J . Craig Venter ’ 72 , PhD ’ 75 , began looking to sequence the genomes of people with ready-to-go clinical histories and blood samples , scientists at UC San Diego ’ s Shiley Eye Institute jumped in .
24 TRITON | WINTER 2018