Primary Care
Welcome to the UCLA Primary Care Program!
Our goal is to prepare our trainees to become skilled clinicians, thoughtful educators, and socially responsible leaders in any community they serve. We highly value diversity of training experiences; as such, our program combines training and educational experiences at the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration, Olive View-UCLA Medical Center and the UCLA Medical Center. We pride ourselves on being a collegial, tight-knit family that is responsive to our residents’ needs, while maintaining a rigorous academic experience that prepares residents for the next stages of their career.
What we do and who we are, are central to our mission and vision. We hope that as you come to know our primary care family, our mission and vision ignite a mutual passion for patient care.
Mina Ma, MD: Program Director
Brianna Cowan, MD: Assistant Program Director, UCLA - VA/Santa Monica Track
Arash Nafisi, MD: Assistant Program Director, UCLA - Olive View/Santa Clarita Track
What is the mission of the UCLA Primary Care Program?
Our Mission:
To build a community of exceptional healers, innovative educators, and passionate advocates who partner with patients on a foundation of justice, equity, and lifelong learning to drive a changing primary care landscape
Who We Are:
A diverse community of passionate primary care faculty, staff and physicians-in-training committed to improving the health and well-being of their community through education, research, and advocacy.
What We Do:
Our mission is achieved through dedicated curriculum and training to become skilled in caring for diverse patient populations across our multiple clinical environments and systems.
Our Vision:
To provide compassionate, high-quality, culturally-sensitive, patient-centered care to improve the health and wellness of all patients in our community, while supporting the well-being and resilience of our physicians and care teams
General Information
- The UCLA Primary Care Program is a three-year residency that leads to eligibility for Board Certification in Internal Medicine.
- The program has two distinct tracks:
- West Los Angeles VA Homeless Patient Aligned Care Team (HPACT) + UCLA Santa Monica
- Olive View-UCLA Medical Center + UCLA Santa Clarita
- All Primary Care residents will have two distinct continuity clinic sites, one within a UCLA community office practice (either Santa Monica or Santa Clarita) and one with an underserved clinic (Olive View or VA-HPACT). This allows for an exceptionally wide-ranging training experience with a diverse set of patients and care environments.
- Applicants may choose to rank one or both tracks, each track offers six residency positions per year
| Track | UCLA - West Los Angeles VA/Santa Monica | UCLA - Olive View/Santa Clarita |
|---|---|---|
| Positions Per Year | Six residency positions per year | Six residency positions per year |
| NRMP | 1956140M0 | 1956140M1 |
| Continuity Clinic #1 | WLA VA Homeless Patient-Aligned Care Team (HPACT): Homeless veteran patient population | UCLA Olive View Patient Centered Medical Home: Diverse population, predominantly Medicaid or uninsured, often but not exclusively Spanish-speaking |
| Continuity Clinic #2 | UCLA Health Santa Monica: Diverse, medically complex, insured patient population | UCLA Health Santa Clarita: Diverse, medically complex, insured patient population |
| Inpatient Rotations | Weighted towards West LA VA and UCLA Medical Center | Weighted towards UCLA Olive View and UCLA Medical Center |