Community Service Organizations

• President: Julia Gensheimer
• Student Advisors: Ryan Shih, Brandon Tsai, Amulya Vadlakonda
• Faculty Advisor: Esteban Dell'Angelica, PhD

Med Mentors at UCLA is a group of DGSOM students that provide free advising and resources to premed students at UCLA and beyond. We host med student and physician panels, provide 1-on-1 advising and essay review, conduct clinical skills workshops, and generate premed resources. Everything is free and open to all.

Med Mentors gives DGSOM students of all years the opportunity to share their stories and premed advice with others. Helping premed students is highly rewarding, and it helps DGSOM students develop necessary mentorship, communication, and leadership skills.

• President: Yuexuan Chen, Catherine Beaudin, Nicholas Finger
• Student Advisors: Jenna Dovydaitis, Myriam Shehata
• Faculty Advisor: Sarah Shoenbrun, MD

The goal of Media and Medicine is to educate and encourage our DGSOM community to be active and effective in news and other forms of media. We will host a panel with physician journalists and media experts, educating medical students and physicians on how they can best interact with the media, how news journalists and journalistic ethics work, how to write news pieces as a tool for advocacy, and how to build trust between medical communities and communities
through the media. We will create writing sessions and build partnerships with media organizations for students to publish articles in - another goal is to form an internship program for discovery year.

• Student Coordinators: Songjingyi (Eliz) Liang, Keer Zhang
• Student Advisor: Youssef Essanaa
• Faculty Advisor: I Obi Emeruwa, MD

MedTech and Health Disparities are rarely used in the same sentence and are much less associated with each other. However, the two integrated would provide much greater medical care for all. What if global health and health equity champions utilize technologies to automate and/or solve the problems observed in low-resource communities? What if MedTech designers and entrepreneurs develop tools that are available for everyone? This organization strives to introduce medical students to the intersection of MedTech and Health Disparities and how one can complement the other. To achieve this, we plan to introduce medical students passionate about addressing health disparities or global health concerns to how MedTech can help solve theproblems they identified. Educate medical students interested in MedTech innovation, consulting, and public equities on how to lead their team thatensures their products and efforts benefit the most people with a greater impact on society. MedTech For All will equip our students with a strategic visionand framework to effectively tackle health disparities issues through the incorporation of MedTech and steer the direction of their future endeavors towarda solution for all to minimize the digital divide across socioeconomic status. We aim to introduce how existing technology can be utilized to address health disparities issues and how to develop new technologies for low-resourced communities through the following ways: - Introduce UCLA medicalstudents to the current landscape of medical technology innovation and how it can play a role in addressing health disparities issues. - Cultivate early-career medical trainees to innovate while cognizant of how their ideas can address health disparities and global health concerns. - Provide resources,opportunities, and mentorship for medical students pursuing a career as a physician passionate about the intersections of medical innovation, healthdisparities, and global health. - Share relevant extramural events, conferences, innovation competitions, and medical hackathons (e.g. MIT Grand Hack),medtech start-up site visiting for attendees to learn and apply strategies learned in real-world settings.
Q6.

• Student Coordinators: Catherine Beaudin, Nhuan Vu
• Student Advisor: Cecilia Wada
• Faculty Advisor: Alejandra Casillas, MD

The mission of the French Medical Interest Group is to promote the development of medical French skills while also delving into fascinating discussions about health challenges within French-speaking communities in the United States and beyond. Our vision is for the French Medical Interest Group to be open to all interested medical students, French-speakers and Francophiles of all levels, from beginner to native proficiency. Some of the activities we envision organizing as leaders of this organization include: Language Practice Sessions: Holding regular meetings to practice speaking,listening, and reading medical French in a supportive environment. If there is a discrepancy in the prior knowledge or French literacy of our members, we will adapt to their different levels to ensure that these sessions are beneficial for everyone. 

Engaging Medical Discussions: Diving into thought-provoking discussions on medical research, case studies, and the latest advancements in medicine that are related to or somehow affect French-speaking communities in the United States and abroad. Interactive Workshops: Inviting and learning from guest speakers and experts as they present different medical topics. 

Engaging Language Games and Quizzes: Testing and expanding our medical vocabulary in French and English through interactive game
nights and quizzes, including but not limited to Kahoot! Movie Nights: Screening and enjoying French-language medical movies, followed by enriching
discussions amongst attendees. As student leaders, another part of our motivation for starting this organization is that we hope to stay in touch with our
French heritage as medical students, and we hope to share our love for this language and culture with our peers. We also know that knowing medical
French can be extremely helpful and important, particularly in global health efforts with organizations like the WHO, United Nations, and Doctors Without
Borders. We firmly believe that expanding knowledge and exposure to medical French within the DGSOM community will help us become more global
doctors as the French language is significantly spoken in at least five continents, most notably in Europe and Africa.

• Student Coordinators: Victoria Arechiga, Vincent Cavallino, Jakeline Larios
• Student Advisors: Sahar Ashrafzadeh, Martina Cavallini, Mauranda Men
• Faculty Advisor: Michelle Aguilar, MD

MSIG’s mission is to promote the importance of linguistic and cultural competency in medical education and in clinical practice. Given the large body of Spanish-speaking patients that we serve in the LA County and across the nation, MSIG believes it is essential for medical students to develop both their linguistic and cultural skills in order to provide optimal care for our Spanish-speaking patients. MSIG strives for its members to increase their fluency in medical Spanish and their understanding of Latino culture in order to reduce healthcare disparities created by cultural and linguistic barriers.

Our organization fulfills our mission statement by way of accomplishing our overarching goals:

• Increase understanding of the impact that linguistic and cultural barriers have on the quality of healthcare.
• Empower medical students to enhance their medical Spanish vocabulary in order to provide high-quality and culturally sensitive care to Spanish-speaking patients.
• Encourage engagement with the Latino culture in order to increase cultural sensitivity and understanding of the Latino patient experience.

• Student Coordinators: Preeti Kakani, Yashaar Hafizka, Antonio Moreno
• Student Advisors: Vishnu Murthy, Bryan Vuong
• Faculty Advisor: Sun Mi Yoo, MD

The Medical Student Healthcare Education and Discussion Interest Group (MedHEAD) seeks to create a space for students to learn foundational knowledge about Healthcare Systems, Policy, and Economics that will help us become better clinicians in the future. As clinicians, we can only do as much good as our system allows, and knowledge of healthcare and its parts will allow us to better utilize resources and advocate for changes to improve healthcare for all.

As a leadership, we feel that there is a lack of basic Healthcare Systems information in our main curriculum, so we want to supplement our learning with student-led lectures, discussion, and supplemental resources in the form of e-mail newsletters. Ideally, the information we learn in the interest group can eventually be integrated into our main curriculum. While the information on health policy is available at DGSOM through an MPH dual degree or the Healthcare selective, many students simply do not have the time or ability to take these routes. This interest group seeks to significantly lower the barrier to seeking basic knowledge on our healthcare system.

• Student Coordinators: Annika Anderson, Alexandra Thompson, Jessica Tsang, Jane Phan
• Student Advisors: Mary Lee, Ava Mousavi, Lara Tang
• Faculty Advisor: Angela Chen, MD

Medical Students for Choice is a national organization that works to destigmatize abortion provision among medical students and residents, and advocates for medical schools and residencies to include abortion training as part of their reproductive health curriculum. As the DGSOM chapter, our mission is to promote these goals at a local level, to educate students about abortion and other critical family-planning practices, and to empower our medical students to advocate for reproductive rights and choice on a local and national level. No matter which specialty a medical student chooses, they will have patients that become pregnant and must make a decision about the pregnancy. Being well-educated about these options, including abortion, will give students the power to provide the best possible care, both during school and in their future careers. In addition, trained abortion providers are essential to promoting reproductive rights, as they allow women to safely and legally access abortion if they choose. Teaching medical students about abortion policies and procedures during their training will ensure that everyone is well equipped to educate their patients on all of their reproductive options.

Oh hiatus from 2023

• Student Co-Coordinators:  
• Student Committee Members: Elijah Bingham, Durga Ghosh
• Student Advisor: Matt Daly
• Faculty Advisor: Anne Meyer, MD

DGSOM at UCLA benefits from its unique proximity to some of the world's best surfing locations and access to a cherished cultural component of the West Coast. The opportunity to enjoy this privilege, while seemingly obvious, is often hindered by steep learning curves, lack of support, and the financially prohibitive nature of transport and access to gear. Given our geographic location, MedSurf at UCLA aims to partner with local and global organizations to promote wellness in the medical community, create long-lasting, equitable, and accessible relationships with the diverse communities of LA, and participate in local sustainability and environmental protection efforts.

• Student Coordinators: Nam Yong Cho, Torey Averick, Oliver Campbell, Chris Carvalho, Jose Chevalier, Charles Santamaria
• Student Advisors:  Kajol Maheshwari
• Faculty Advisors: Gregory Gates, MD, David Reilly, MD, Adriana Izquierdo, MD

Our mission is to provide an educational and collaborative environment where medical school students can learn about medical careers and special patient populations as they relate to the military and VA. This group welcomes anyone with or without a military background, who is interested in learning about the specific needs of the military and veteran patient population, and/or is interested in the career opportunities and special training opportunities the Department of Defense and VA healthcare system can provide. It also includes any student veteran or student interested in military scholarship and training programs that can fund your medical career in exchange for a specific amount of time of service to this country as a medical professional.

• To act as a liaison between incoming/existing military and veteran students and new and existing residents with military/veteran backgrounds or aspirations to the UCLA veteran's resource center to access the available pool of resources for required testing, purchasing of equipment, and other assistance programs
• To connect military and veteran students with the sources, networks, and educational financial benefits they need to transition into a civilian educational life
• To act as a welcoming support network for prior, currently serving and prospectively serving students to enhance the matriculation numbers of military/veteran students and increase the diversity of the UCLA student body

• Student Coordinators: Geena Conde, Emily Dickey, Corinne Allas, Sarah Hinton, Mariam Noorhulda, Nneoma "Ezi" Okoro, Samuel Edwards, Tra-Mi Bao, Keer Zhang
• Student Advisors: Christopher Hernandez, Randy Tsai, Abinaya Ramakrishnan, Charles Santamaria, Alejandro Vega, Angelina Wei, Felicia Zhang, Yaretson Carmenate 
• Faculty Advisor: Denise Garvey, MD
• Project Website: Mobile Clinic Project 

We are a student-run, nonprofit street-side clinic based at UCLA. Our physicians and volunteers provide medical and social services to individuals experiencing homelessness within the Greater Los Angeles Area. Every Wednesday night and every other Saturday morning, we operate a clinic with undergraduate, medical, and public health students in a collaborative effort to bring healthcare and social services to this population. In a safe non-judgmental environment, we provide a combination of direct medical services, health promotion and disease prevention activities, social support and case management, legal services, and referrals to medical and social resources.

On hiatus from 2023

• Student Coordinators: Jay Vankawala, Qiang Zhang
• Student Advisor: Rohini Nott
• Faculty Advisor: Rashmi Mullur, MD

The mission of our club is to bring our love for music to the field of medicine through performing with patients, families, and members of the UCLA community and beyond. We understand the power of music in healing and wish to spread this to our community, particularly patients in need of spiritual and emotional support. One of our favorite spaces to perform is the UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital for children and families in the Pediatric ICU (in collaboration with the Expressive Arts Therapies Program). Singing with these patients and their families is not only humbling, but lots of fun – all the children join in and some even add their own dance moves! We also love playing music with the elderly patient population at the Berkley East nursing home. We welcome all music lovers to join us and spread music to our community.

• Faculty Advisor: Neveen El-Farra, MD

Muslim Student Union (MSU) is the Muslim affinity group at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM). We aim to:

• Educate the DGSOM community on how to provide culturally humble, compassionate, patient-centered care to Muslim patients and their families.
• Advocate for and support the needs of Muslim students and colleagues at DGSOM.
• Advocate for and serve the needs of structurally vulnerable communities in Los Angeles with a focus on the local underserved Muslim population.
• Plan social and professional events to unite the medical student and medical health professional community within DGSOM and UCLA Health. 
• Create an inclusive environment based on understanding, respect, and tolerance that celebrates our differences.
• Plan interfaith events with our colleagues at DGSOM, UCLA Health and all our affiliated hospitals (Olive View, Harbor, Cedars, VA) to promote a spirit of standing together, health, and well-being amongst our entire community.

• Student Coordinators: Harika Kottakota, Tira Oskoui, Akshayaa Chittibabu
• Student Advisors: Stephanie Bueno, Clara Nguyen, Grace Yi
• Faculty Advisor: Whitney Arnold, PhD

The Narrative Medicine Collective at DGSOM seeks to provide a collaborative space for medical students and healthcare professionals to reflect on their
collective experiences within healthcare. Narrative medicine is a rising discipline that combines humanities, arts, clinical medicine, and social justice to
give voice to diverse perspectives and humanism in medicine through narratives and prose. The ultimate goal is to use narrative medicine as a vessel to
promote equitable and patient-centered health care. The goal of the Collective: - serve as a community for individuals in health care who wish to reflect
with like-minded peers about varying perspectives in health care (i.e. as providers and/or as patients) - host student-led writing events open to the larger
DGSOM community and provide a comfortable space to write, reflect, and share - lead narrative medicine writing workshops to give feedback to
members who request to workshop their written pieces - produce a recurring narrative medicine publication that features voices within the DGSOM
community

• Student Coordinators: Deborah Cheng
• Student Advisors:  Myles Anderson, Andy Chung, DeAndre Guyton
• Faculty Advisor: Daphne Calmes, MD

Partnership 4 Progress
Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science College of Medicine
1731 East 20th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90059
Email: Partnership4progress@yahoo.com

Our goal is to provide guidance and direction for underserved and underrepresented South Los Angeles high school students that are interested in pursuing a career in the medical field. This project provides student mentors as role models to influence and encourage them to strive toward their future endeavors. Mentors will educate youths on establishing goals, college matriculation, and delayed gratification, and help them prepare for overcoming potential obstacles.

• Student Coordinators: Zahra Amiri, Tara Shahrvini 
• Upperclassmen Advisors: Sahar Ashrafzadeh
• Faculty Advisors: Mohamad Navab, PhD, Amir Marvasti, MD

Persian Medical Society will be an organization that aspires to create a community of Persian American healthcare providers at UCLA. Some of the goals are: 

• Providing mentorship for young professionals and students
• Professional networking
• Organizing volunteering events
• Creating an inclusive culture and welcoming space for all backgrounds
•  Collaborating with dentistry, nursing, public health, and other graduate and undergraduate programs at UCLA to unite individuals interested in healthcare and advocacy
• Creating leadership opportunities for students
• Since Los Angeles has a great population of Farsi-speaking patients one of the goals of this organization will be to advocate for such patients and raise awareness to overcome the key barriers to healthcare access

• Student Coordinators: Yousseff Essanna, Anne Hall
• Student Advisors: Callie Cuff, Emily Nguyen
• Faculty Advisor: Arthur Ohannessian, MD

The goals of Project HEAL are to:

• Teach health workshops in ninth-grade classrooms at Esteban Torres High School on topics such as mental health, nutrition, drugs, and alcohol use.
• Promote well-being and foster a sense of excitement about careers in the health sector among students who represent a population underrepresented in medicine.

• Student Coordinator: Alexander Krawec, Jonathan Balderrama
• Student Advisors: Meachelle Lum, Julia Hafer
• Faculty Advisor: Rashmi Mullur, MD

Rosear seeks to: 

• Unite a community of people who may be experiencing loss, grief, or traumatic death experiences 
• Provide an open space for healing and a reliant support group
• Offer emotional support and resources
• Address stigmas associated with grief or asking for help
• Allow students to listen to and for each other
• Provide a foundation to discuss and combat under-representation due to abnormal family structures/communities (proper titles/consolation in identity)
• Discussing grief and loss with each other will help medical students better understand their patients through empathy

• Student Coordinators: Nam Yong Cho, Joseph Wertz, Jordan Brafman, Abinaya Ramakrishnan, Arianna Konstantopoulos, Dustin Zwiebel, Thomas Roache
• Student Advisor:  Alexander Vesling
• Faculty Advisor: Rochelle Dicker, MD

SAFE (Scrubs Addressing the Firearm Epidemic) strives to:

• Raise awareness of the United States firearm epidemic as a public health crisis, and to combat this issue on our campus by promoting dialogue, research, and evidence-based curriculum changes
• Serve as a chapter and representative of the national organization, Scrubs Addressing the Firearm Epidemic, at the David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM) at UCLA as well as among the graduate schools of UCLA
• Represent a uniting front for physicians, medical students, nurses, public health students, and other healthcare professionals throughout our campus to comprehensively address this issue from a public health standpoint.

• Student Coordinators: George Daghlian,  David Zarrin
• Student Advisors: Justin Lee,  Cindy Liu
• Faculty Advisor: TBD 

Sling Health at UCLA was founded in 2017 by medical students at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. It began as an informal health technology incubator with the vision of empowering medical students to solve relevant issues in healthcare. In the first year, we supported two teams: one focused on developing a tool to streamline pediatric care coordination for the most vulnerable children within UCLA Health, and another developing a meal kit delivery service to use food as medicine for pressing chronic conditions like diabetes. In the second year, the health technology incubator at UCLA merged with the national Sling Health network founded by medical students at Washington University in St. Louis to become Sling Health at UCLA.

We have now developed an innovative platform that:

• Provides experiential training for the next generation of physician innovators 
• Enables the creation of innovative technologies for pressing clinical needs.

Each year, the organization first brings together top students in medicine, engineering, business, and other graduate specializations to form interdisciplinary teams, connecting them to clinicians and local entrepreneurs to develop novel solutions for healthcare issues. Sling Health at UCLA then provides the necessary infrastructure, training, and mentorship to create solutions to address identified clinical challenges and expose students to healthcare innovation.

• Student Coordinator: Adam Alghalith, Christina Im
• Student Advisor: Emily Coker
• Faculty Advisor: Rolanda Gott, MD

Special Olympics at DGSOM has three goals:

• Increase awareness of inclusive health practices among future medical leaders by hosting faculty-led workshops and panels.
• Expose medical students to careers focused on treating patients with IDD through discussions and shadowing.
• Serve the IDD patient population through Special Olympics.

• Student Coordinators: Spencer Flynn
• EACE Chief: Joshua Rivera
• Street Medicine Chiefs: Jose Eka, Jordan Peyer, David Kim, Jackie Vu, Autreen Golzar
• General Clinic Chief: Rebbeca Brena, Maggie Owens
• Student Advisors: Kaylin Gonzalez, Tijana Temelkovska
• Faculty Advisor: Mary Marfisee, MD
• Website: Student Run Homeless Clinic

The Student Run Health Clinics were founded in 1989-1990 under the direction of the Department of Family Medicine at UCLA.  The clinics are solely run by DGSOM medical students and supervised by licensed UCLA faculty physicians.  SRHC serves over 1000 patients a year.  Our services include preventive health, mental health, basic primary and urgent care, acute and chronic disease management, wound and foot care, social services referrals, immunizations, and more.  In addition to medical care, SRHC works to empower these communities with patient education.

The mission of the UCLA Student Run Homeless Clinics (SRHC) is to provide respectful and compassionate health care services to homeless adults, families, and children living in the greater Los Angeles area. The individuals we serve benefit by receiving free medical care from UCLA medical students and faculty physicians. The founders and clinic participants are dedicated to the health of the community.

Learn more about teh Student Run Homeless Clinic 

• Student Coordinators: Christina Im, Nora Galoustian, 
• Student Advisors: Edhosa Edogun, Charlotte Wahle
• Faculty Advisor: Rachel Thompson, MD

Thrive Adaptive invites adaptive sports programs to partner with us in creating a thriving community that bridges the gap between clinical professionals,
medical students, and the world of adaptive sports. Together, we can empower individuals with disabilities, foster collaboration, and revolutionize the
landscape of inclusive healthcare. We hope to achieve this goal through carefully crafted educational opportunities, developing meaningful qualitative
and quantitative research, and providing proper medical support for adaptive athletes. We aim to empower today’s medical professionals to become
champions of inclusive healthcare for individuals with disabilities. We will continue to forge alliances with local adaptive recreation providers and the
medical community to build a network of current and future medical professionals who excel at caring for individuals with disabilities. Through these close
collaborations, we foster a vibrant and supportive community that empowers individuals with disabilities to thrive. We equip clinicians with the specialized
skills and knowledge needed to provide exceptional care for adaptive athletes at all levels, from beginner to Paralympian. Furthermore, by providing
medical support at adaptive sports events, we are building relationships with individual adaptive athletes so that we can understand and support all of
their healthcare needs. Thrive Adaptive directors are actively engaged with faculty from the UCLA Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in an effort to
build a healthcare pipeline for adaptive athletes that will redefine the standard of care for individuals with disabilities, and deliver medical services that
optimize health, wellness, and athletic performance. Members of the Thrive Adaptive Special Interest Group at DGSOM and the broader Thrive Adaptive
volunteer community will have collaborative opportunities to: 1) Create comprehensive training modules and education in conjunction with our partners to
train both medical professionals and community members about adaptive sports. 2) Foster meaningful relationships within UCLA and other large
academic institutions to develop high-level qualitative and quantitative research that benefits people with disabilities and the adaptive sports community.
3) Prepare medical professionals to support athletes at major high-level sporting events like the LA 2028 Paralympics and beyond via first-hand teaching
from skilled providers and community members. As well as carefully crafted educational resources. 4) Create a network of individuals who are
passionate about learning more about athletes with disabilities. 5) Participants will be able to hone their leadership skills by providing medical support for
large adaptive sports events with over 200+ participants. 6) Connect the community of interested students and providers with athletes in need to facilitate
positive outcomes for people with disabilities during major sporting events. 7) Enable equitable access to quality specialized medical support. 8)
Empower our communities to help them Thrive.
 

• Student Coordinators: Doris Gonzalez, Karina Fing Castro
• Student Advisors: Jessica Menjivar Cruz, Yesica Equihua Maximiliano
• Faculty Advisor:  Alma Guerrero, MD, MPH

Our mission is to collectively provide support for undocumented students affiliated with UCLA and CDU who are pursuing careers in health care. Our goals are to:

• Increase funds, such as loans and scholarships, for undocumented students pursuing health care
• Educate students and faculty about how immigration status impacts students, patients, providers, and the community at large.
• Advocate for policy changes that lead to sustainable solutions for undocumented students pursuing health careers.

• Student Coordinators: Zeena Mestari, Joseph Ebriani
• Faculty Advisors: Marcia Hoegling, MD and Carol Cheng, MD

Our mission is to forge a strong partnership with the Los Angeles youth community, working hand in hand to raise awareness and educate individuals
about the importance of skin health, preventing skin cancer and communicable skin diseases, and mental health. Through outreach, advocacy, and
accessible resources, we are committed to reaching out to marginalized populations, ensuring that everyone, regardless of their background or
circumstances, has access to vital information and resources for skin health and mental wellness. Together, we strive to promote a culture of skin health
that embraces safe skin practices, informed choices, opportunities for mentorship and exposure to the field of medicine.