Internal Medicine

NRSA T32 Primary Care Research Fellowship

The UCLA NRSA T32 Primary Care Research Fellowship stresses development of primary or ambulatory medicine physicians into independent investigators in health services research or epidemiology. This is accomplished through formal class work in the UCLA School of Public Health, an informal series of seminars led by local experts, and the development, implementation, and completion of an original, independent research project.

The fellowship provides physicians with the necessary skills to become effective and creative leaders in shaping health care and health policy. Fellows complete the program with doctoral level training in the skills necessary to conduct high quality research and policy analysis, including training in clinical epidemiology, health services research, program evaluation, and biostatistics. Fellows also have access to advanced training in a wide variety of specific areas of interest such as medical informatics, geriatrics and women’s health.

All fellows complete a core curriculum including:

  • Formal course work, usually leading to a degree, at the UCLA School of Public Health.
  • Informal course work in fellowship seminars.
  • Completion of an independent research project.

Each fellow chooses a social scientist and a clinician to serve as mentors for designing and completing a research project. Mentors include well-known investigators from any of the four affiliated program locations, including the UCLA Schools of Medicine and Public Health, the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (including campuses at West Los Angeles and Sepulveda) and the RAND Health Program. 

Fellows experience the kind of collaborative, interdisciplinary research environment most likely to foster successful health services research. Opportunities are available to study almost any aspect of health services or health policy, including access to care, quality of care, clinical epidemiology, disparities, preventive care, palliative care, women’s health, clinical ethics, and the care of patients with specific diseases or psychological problems.

The fellowship's mission is to train creative, independent, ethical and productive leaders in health services research and related fields. To achieve this mission, our goal is to provide a program that has enough structure and resources to enable fellows to progress in areas relevant to our mission and to ensure that they do so, yet to recognize fellows as independent adults whose own interests and goals will be the primary determinants of the paths they will follow.

Fellowships are 2 years in duration, with the possibility of a 3rd year. The NRSA fellowship is open to general internists, family physicians, pediatricians, dentists and nurses.

Program Directors

Neil Wenger, MD, MPH, Director, Professor, Division of General Internal Medicine & Health Services Research, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Mitch Wong, MD, PhD, Co-Director, Professor, Division of General Internal Medicine & Health Services Research, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Rebecca Dudovitz, MD, MS, Assistant Professor, UCLA Department of Pediatrics

Lillian Gelberg, MD, MSPH, George F. Kneller Professor, UCLA Department of Family Medicine; 

Inquiries or to request an application:

Victor Gonzalez, Program Administrator: [email protected] or (310) 794-2288