Equitable Patient Care

Commitment to equitable patient care

Commitment to equitable care in our communities includes UCLA Urology’s presence at two county hospitals and the county-run MLK Outpatient Center, as well as the development of the Gender Health Program at UCLA and oversight over the IMPACT program.  The Gender Health Program at UCLA is an interdisciplinary program offering patient navigation and care to transgender and gender- expansive individuals. This program also supports inclusive medical training through support of DGSOM programs and CME conferences. Urology also oversees IMPACT, a program founded in 2001 to provide prostate cancer care for low-income California residents. The program provides comprehensive care and case management to bridge health literacy gaps.

Addressing Disparities in Prostate Cancer

Isla Garraway, MD, Professor of Urology at UCLA and Director of Urologic Research, is a key member of the Prostate Cancer Foundation's health equities panel. Her leadership in the study process resulted in the establishment of new prostate cancer screening guidelines for Black men in the United States. The study findings were presented at the 2024 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, featured in the UCLA Health Newsroom and in the NEJM Evidence. 

Dr. Garraway was also a participant in a webinar about the disparities in prostate cancer organized by the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the West Angeles Church Brotherhood. Watch the video >

Free Prostate Cancer Screenings

UCLA Urology and UCLA Health partnered to organize a 2024 free prostate cancer screening event in South Los Angeles. Dr. Kymora Scotland led this effort with volunteer assistance from UCLA medical students, residents, fellows and a phlebotomist, as well as Charles Drew University medical students. 

Advancing Health Equity

In April 2021, the UCLA Health launched the Health Equity Pitch Contest, a showcase of the important work advancing health equity by the faculty, staff, students, and community partners. The contest is part of the UCLA Health Innovation Challenge that provides opportunities and funding to tackle challenges in vulnerable populations. Desiree Sanchez, MD, former UCLA Urology resident and Abhishek Venkataramana, MD, a medical student at DGSOM received a $15,000 award for “AccessiHealth,” an app-based project and pipeline program.

Researching disparities in access to care for erectile dysfunction

Denise Asafu-Adjei, MD aspires to establish a physician-scientist career at the interface of andrology and health policy and is completing her one-year research project focused on disparities in erectile dysfunction services and care. The impact of her work is highlighted in the June 2021 issue of AUA Investigator. At the time of her work and publication, Dr. Asafu-Adjei was a UCLA Urology andrology fellow and a Urology Care Foundation Research Scholar Award recipient. She is now the medical director of male reproductive medicine at Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois. Read more >