Program Overview 

• Each MS3 paired with a Mentor Clinician for one 4-week block at Hillcrest OR the VA
• Mentor Clinician meets with you weekly to observe rounds (or another clinical experience, like admitting a patient) and provide formative feedback
• Mentor Clinician interactive teaching sessions two times each block at the VA and Hillcrest
  • Health Equity
  • Clinical Reasoning

Program Overview

The UC San Diego Neurology Mentor Clinician Program (MCP) is comprised of dedicated clinical educators within clinical Neurosciences. Each inpatient neurology team will be assigned one Mentor Clinician for 1-2 weeks. These Mentor Clinicians will observe medical students and provide formative feedback on their data gathering, physical examination, presentation, interpersonal, and clinical reasoning skills.  

In addition to attending morning rounds and providing individualized feedback, Mentor Clinicians will conduct both general and focused weekly teaching sessions with the medical students. The program is designed to provide medical students with one-on-one mentorship and an opportunity to learn about the “art of medicine” from an experienced clinical educator.  

Neurology Mentor Clinicians 

Elizabeth Murphy Bevins

Dr. Elizabeth Murphy Bevins completed a clinical fellowship in memory disorders as well as neurology residency at UC San Diego. She earned her Ph.D. in neurosciences and medical degree at the UC San Diego School of Medicine. She is passionate about medical education and has been since she was a medical student at UCSD herself!  She loves world travel (and has visited over 120 countries), writing, and spending time outside with her husband and daughter.

Ron Ellis, MD, PhD

Dr. Ron Ellis is a recipient of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award. Devoted to his mentees, he strives to publish with each of his mentees.  

Dominic Ferrey, MD

Dr. Dominic Ferrey is a neurophysiologist who specializes in neuromuscular conditions. While a resident at UC San Diego, he earned recognition as a Chief Resident, Outstanding Neurology Resident Teacher, and was the recipient of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation’s Humanism and Excellence in Teaching Resident Award in Neurology. As a junior faculty member, he has been recognized with the Junior Faculty Teaching Award and the Academy of Clinician Scholars Whitehill Prize for Excellence, Neurology. 

Program Overview

The UC San Diego OBGYN Mentor Clinician Program (MCP) allows for protected teaching time for selected top educator attending physicians to work with students during this six week block. This is a new and innovative approach to improve medical education for trainees during their clinical years. The Mentor Clinician Clinician group is comprised of some of the most experienced clinical educators in the UC San Diego Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, & Reproductive Sciences.

Small groups of 2-3 students are assigned a Mentor Clinician who works with their group on the Labor and Delivery triage unit at JMC, and attends outpatient clinic at the Medical Office’s South building women’s health clinic. The Mentor Clinician observes medical students and provides formative feedback on their data gathering, physical examination, presentation, interpersonal, and clinical reasoning skills. Of note, there is no evaluation component to the MCP. The program was designed exclusively to help medical students further their development as a physician. Thus, students should feel comfortable asking questions so that they may improve their clinical skills in this completely safe learning environment.

In addition to rounds and individualized feedback, Mentor Clinicians conduct weekly skills sessions with the medical students, focused on communication, compassion and empathy. The program is also designed to provide medical students with one-on-one mentorship and learn about the “art of medicine” from an experienced clinical educator.

Meet Our Mentor Clinicians

Jorge Alvarado, MD 

Jorge L. Alvarado, MD, is an obstetrician/gynecologist who provides minimally invasive gynecologic surgery, with an interest in dysplasia of the cervix, vagina, and vulva. He also provides family planning services, contraception counseling and abortion care. He is passionate about care for underserved populations and is an LGBTQ-friendly physician. Dr. Alvarado completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at UC San Francisco and earned his medical degree at UT Southwestern Medical School. He won the James R. Green MD Memorial Award at UC San Francisco for excellence in the care of underserved women. He speaks fluent Spanish. 

Julie Cormano, MD 

Julia Cormano, MD is the Clerkship Director for the UC San Diego OBGYN 3rd year medical student core clerkship and is an Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UC San Diego Health. She is honored to serve as the Associate Director for the Mentor Clinician Program in OB/GYN. She also leads the 4th year medical student advising for students looking to match into OB/GYN. Her teaching awards include the CREOG Faculty Education Excellence in Resident Education Award at Mercy Hospital in Chicago (2015), the APGO Excellence in Teaching Award at Rush University Medical Center (2016), the UC San Diego Academy of Clinician Scholars Whitehill Prize for Excellence at UC San Diego (2017), the Society for Academic Specialists in General Obstetrics and Gynecology (SASGOG) Faculty Award (2020), the UC San Diego School of Medicine MS3 Kaiser Excellence in Teaching Award (2022), and the APGO Humanism in Teaching Award (2022).  

Pamela Deak, MD 

Pamela Deak, MD, is a professor in the department of OB/GYN who places great emphasis on establishing strong physician-patient relationships and believes that they are based on communication. She aims for each of her patients to feel not only well cared for, but well understood. Dr. Deak also feels that caring for and educating women through their unique transformations from childhood through maturity brings many rewards. Dr. Deak served as the Clerkship Director for the UC San Diego OB/GYN 3rd year medical student clerkship for over 10 years and has dedicated countless hours to medical student teaching and skills training over her career. 

Amy Driebe, MD

Amy Driebe, MD is a member of the generalist division of UC San Diego Health. She attended undergraduate and medical school training at the University of Florida and completed residency at UC San Diego Health. She returned to UCSD in 2022 to participate in medical education, which is a passion of her career and clinical practice. She provides full spectrum OB/GYN care including adolescent, obstetrics, perimenopause and menopausal care. She is a certified robotic surgeon and is passionate about gynecologic surgical care for non-cancerous conditions. She is an avid reader, cook, baker and yogi. She is a strong proponent of the importance of work-life balance. She won the Whitehill teaching award from the resident class after her first year back at UCSD.  

Gina Frugoni, MD

Dr. Gina Frugoni is the Division Chief of the OBGYN Hospitalist Division, who is excited to be part of the Mentor Clinician program.  She is currently the course co-director for Endocrinology, Reproduction and Metabolism for the first year medical students and second year pharmacy students.  She has been nominated for the Kaiser excellence in teaching award for her preclinical teaching and has won the APGO Excellence in Teaching Award in 2013 and 2019 for the clinical teaching of third year medical students.  She is a graduate of UC San Diego School of Medicine as well as our own OBGYN residency and hopes to continue to give back to student education through her role as Director of the Yellow Academic Community and a Mentor Clinician Educator.  

Pratima Gupta, MD, MPH

As a woman of color and parent, Dr. Gupta often finds herself supporting learners through personal and professional challenges, while helping them to not lose sight of the fun of medicine. In fact, one of her mottos is “Let’s ensure there is passion in compassion.” Dr. Gupta particularly enjoys training learners to leverage their expert voices to advocate for their patients, Obstetrics and Gynecology as a specialty, and equitable health and justice of the community. Society trusts doctors, so she believes it is our duty and responsibility to speak up for injustices and in support of laudable behavior changes. Dr. Gupta sees involvement in teaching and physician advocacy as one of the many tools to support physician wellness and build an essential foundation to allow for healthy and long medical careers. 

Scott Harvey, MD 

Dr. Scott Harvey is dual boarded in obstetrics and gynecology as well as surgical critical care, and is a dedicated clinical educator. He writes, “as the root of the word ‘Doctor’ comes from ‘Docere’, meaning ‘to teach’, it is the responsibility to aid others who follow in our footsteps in clinical bedside teaching.” 

His teaching awards include: 

2011: Medical Student Teaching Award to Hawaii Residency Program’s PGY-1. 

2012: Overall resident excellence in teaching award for Hawaii Residency Programs 

2014: Academic Achievement Award for Hawaii Residency Programs 

2014: Overall Resident Excellence in Teaching Award 

2015: National Faculty Award for the University of Hawaii 

2018 APGO Excellence in Teaching award 

2019 Physician Respiratory Champion Award (for teaching respiratory therapists) 

2020: Chief OBGYN Resident Class of 2020 GOAT (Greatest of all time) for teaching 

Steve Hebert, MD 

Dr. Stephen Hebert is an OB Hospitalist and Professor of Ob/Gyn at UCSD.  He currently works on L&D at Jacobs Medical Center. After undergraduate and medical training at the University of Colorado, he completed residency at UCSD. Following 2 years on faculty, he moved to private practice in San Diego for the next 23 years. In 2007 he returned to UCSD in his current capacity. He has since received teaching awards from the residents, students and midwives with his special interest being compassionate obstetrical care for our complex and diverse patient population.  

Mai Hoang, MD

Dr. Mai Hoang is an OB hospitalist who enjoys teaching tremendously. She runs the ERM1 course, and gives lectures to medical students and residents. She values both clinical skills and the soft, bedside skills that are crucial in becoming an excellent physician.  

Gill Mackay, MD, MBBS 

Dr. Gill Mackay has been working with learners since completing residency in 2008 in Boston. At Harvard Medical school she gave medical student lectures during clinical rotations, as well as teaching students in small groups and at the bedside. She was intricately involved in the clinical education of the residents, both in the inpatient and outpatient setting. While at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center she was a key preceptor for medical students and residents in the clinic, operating room and on labor and delivery. She received a teaching award from the residents while working there. In Oklahoma City, where she was on faculty at the large university hospital, she gave many regular lectures on gynecologic topics as well as leading and annual Seminar for the second-year medical students on “Ethical issues in Reproductive Medicine” which was very well received. She was awarded medical student teaching awards every year for the 4 years she was on faculty. At UCSD, she has continued to be active in teaching medical students and residents in the outpatient and inpatient settings on a regular basis, in small group and one-on-one settings as well as for procedures and in the operating room. 

David Klein, MD

David Klein (he/his/they/their) is a generalist OBGYN and an associate professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at UC San Diego. Prior to medical training, Dr. Klein studied and published on the potential for harm done to patients by negatives attitudes on disability among healthcare providers discussing prenatal genetic screening and testing. He now uses this understanding to approach patient care with non-judgmental language, patient-centered sensitivity, and a trauma-informed practice.  He is active in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and recently completed a term as the past chair for junior fellows (trainees and non-boarded physicians) in California, and is a new member of the Wilderness Medical Society. Past teaching acknowledgments include three years of awards as a teaching assistant in biostatistics and epidemiology during medical school and regular commendations for outstanding medical student evaluations throughout residency.  

Ariana Melendez, MD

Dr. Melendez (she/her) is an OB Hospitalist who joined UCSD in October 2021 and has been working with the Mentor Clinician Program since. Her practice is a hybrid of inpatient and outpatient obstetric and gynecologic care. Prior to medical school, she taught high school biology and physics through Teach for America, and loves having the opportunity to continue teaching. Dr. Melendez attended medical school at the University of Illinois in Chicago and completed OB/GYN residency in 2022 at UC-Irvine. She is passionate about fostering a desire for lifelong learning and promoting psychological safety and community in medical training. She has special interests in clinical ethics, perinatal loss, and family planning. As of early 2024, she is the faculty advisor for the OBGYN student interest group. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, crafting, reading, and cooking. 

Mariana Ramos-Rivera, MD

Mariana Ramos-Rivera, MD is an Assistant Clinical Professor and Generalist Ob/Gyn in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at UCSD.  She graduated from UCSD ObGyn residency  and returned as faculty after a year in private practice, in part because of her love of teaching residents and medical students. She is also passionate about Global Health and travels down to Tijuana a few times a year for ObGyn consultations and medical student teaching at a non-profit clinic. She has also been an active member of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG)’s Committee on Global Health.  As a bilingual provider, she focuses on providing culturally sensitive care to her patients. She also centers her practice around patient education and autonomy and is excited to teach all of these aspects of medical care to the next generation of learners. 

Alice Sutton, MD 

Alice Sutton is an OBGYN hospitalist and an assistant clinical professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She attended the University of Virginia School of Medicine and completed residency at George Washington University, where she was an administrative chief resident. She is the co-director of the Endocrinology, Reproduction and Metabolism II block in the second year medical school curriculum. Her scholarly interests include fostering empathy and compassion through innovative reproductive health curriculum, and care for underserved populations.  She has received the Excellent Consultant award from the Emergency Department for teaching Emergency Medicine residents. 

Nicole Teal 

Dr. Nicole Teal is a maternal fetal medicine specialist at UC San Diego, and a recipient of the Women’s Reproductive Health Research Scholarship (WRHR). Dr. Teal worked as a teaching assistant for Organic Chemistry in college. In medical school, she tutored junior medical students as they prepared for the USMLE and precepted others in the medical school’s free clinic. She also led a small group of second year students through the Doctoring course, teaching clinical skills with a focus on patient-centered care and humanism. She won the UNC Fellow Excellence in Teaching Award in 2023. 

Samantha Thomson, MD

Samantha Thomson, MD, FACOG, has been educating medical students and residents since completion of residency in 2017, and takes great joy in teaching clinical skills, reasoning, and patient centered care to the next generation. Dr. Thomson finds it exciting to find ways to incorporate non-OBGYN interests into teaching for those that will pursue other specialties. She believes every student can take away important knowledge and skills from this rotation that will make them an excellent, thoughtful clinician in any field.  

Program Overview

The UC San Diego Pediatric Mentor Clinician Program (MCP) at Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego (RHCSD) is comprised of some of the most experienced clinical educators in the UCSD Department of Pediatrics. Each RCHSD ward team is assigned a Mentor Clinician who attends Pediatric Hospital Medicine and Subspecialty Rounds with the medical students during their inpatient rotation.  The Mentor Clinician observes medical students and provides formative feedback on their data gathering, physical examination, presentation, interpersonal, and clinical reasoning skills. In addition to rounds and individualized feedback, Mentor Clinicians conduct weekly teaching sessions with the medical students, focused on communication, compassion and empathy. 

Laurie Bernard Stover, MD

Dr. Laurie Bernard Stover practices within the division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine, and also holds administrative roles as Clinical Director in PHM and Director of Inpatient Services for RCHSD, and has been recognized for her teaching by the Pediatric Residency program.  She has special interests in complex care as well as medical child abuse. She is passionate about working with medical students at UCSD to improve their clinical skills and to pass on the importance of compassionate care in medicine.

Chris Cannavino, MD

Dr. Chris Cannavino is a Pediatric Infectious Disease physician at RCHSD and an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at UCSD. After graduating from UCLA, he received his MD from the UCSD School of Medicine. Dr. Cannavino completed his Pediatric Residency at UCSD where, after serving as Chief Resident, he completed dual Fellowships in Pediatric Infectious Disease and Pediatric Hospital Medicine. He is the Director for the Center for Mentorship in Medicine at the Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion, Director of Pediatric Medical Student Education at the UCSD School of Medicine, Director of the UCSD Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program, and the Associate Program Director for the UCSD Pediatric Residency Program.  Dr. Cannavino has received numerous teaching awards, including the UCSD Department of Pediatrics’ "Attending of the Year Award" in 2008 & 2011, RCHSD's "Career Excellence in Teaching Award" in 2016, the Kaiser “Excellence in Teaching Award” in 2021, the "Saltman Distinguished Teaching Award” from the UCSD Academic Senate (Campus-wide) in 2021, and the Inaugural UCSD Department of Pediatrics “Excellence in Curriculum Development and Education Innovation Award” in 2023.

Ami Doshi, MD

Dr. Ami Doshi is a pediatric hospitalist and palliative medicine physician at Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego and director of palliative care. She is also an associate clinical professor of pediatrics at UC San Diego School of Medicine and Vice Chair for Faculty Development and the Faculty Wellness Director for the Department of Pediatrics. After earning her undergraduate degree in psychobiology at the University of Southern California, Dr. Doshi completed her medical training at University of California, Irvine and continued her pediatric residency at UC San Diego, where she completed her pediatric hospital medicine fellowship.  Dr. Doshi is actively involved with the education and mentorship of medical students, residents and fellows. Her academic interests are in palliative medicine and clinician well-being. She has created and disseminated curricula for trainees and attending physicians to foster primary palliative care and communication skills.

Juliana Gomez-Arostegui, MD

Dr. Juliana Gomez-Arostegui currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Pediatric Cardiology and as a Primary Inpatient Cardiologist at the Rady Children's Hospital of the University of California, San Diego, where she brings 20 years of a diverse background in clinical practice, medical education, and patient care. Prior to Rady Children, she worked in the Bay Area as an outpatient pediatric cardiologist for many years and prior to this, as a general pediatric hospitalist at two county hospitals.

 Dr. Gomez-Arostegui's career has been built upon an emphasis on education and high- quality delivery of patient care. She holds a Medical Doctorate degree from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and a Master of Public Health degree from Boston University, with a concentration in Health Ethics and Law. In addition, she holds several professional certifications and licenses, including Diplomate status with the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) and membership with the American Academy of Pediatrics. She also completed her Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship at the Rady Children's Hospital at the University of California at San Diego. In recognition of her academic excellence, compassion and integrity she was awarded the Henry C. Kempe Honorary Award during her medical training.

Dr. Gomez-Arostegui's contributions extend beyond the classroom and hospital settings. She is an active member of various professional committees, including the Rady Children’s Hospital Bioethics Committee and the Rady Children’s Hospital Joint Quality and Credentialing Committee.

Her commitment to medical education is evident in her formal teaching of fellows and residents on a daily basis, partaking in educational lectures and by initiating regular cardiology physical exam rounds for the pediatric residents.

Sarah Gray

Dr. Sarah Gray is a Pediatric Hospitalist at RCHSD and an Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at UCSD. She received her undergraduate degree in Chemistry at UC Davis and her medical degree from UC San Diego School of Medicine. She completed her pediatric residency and pediatric hospital medicine fellowship at UC San Diego/Rady Children's Hospital. She is passionate about medical education and actively involved in mentorship of UCSD pediatric hospital medicine fellows, pediatric residents, and medical students. She has special academic interests in family centered care and rounding, quality improvement initiatives, and respiratory infections in hospitalized children. 

Helen Harvey, MD

Dr. Helen Harvey is a pediatric critical care physician and anesthesiologist at Rady Children’s Hospital and UCSD. She did her pediatric residency, pediatric chief residency, and pediatric critical care fellowship at UCSD and then went on to complete an anesthesiology residency and chief residency at Johns Hopkins. She is the UCSD pediatric critical care fellowship program director. Dr. Harvey has received numerous teaching awards, including UCSD department of Pediatrics “Fellow of the Year” in 2012, “Attending of the Year” in 2017, and UCSD Academy of Clinician Scholars Whitehill Prize for Excellence in 2018. Dr. Harvey is completing her Masters of Education in Health Professions from Johns Hopkins University. Education interests include team building, simulation, and crisis resource management. Research interests include acute respiratory distress syndrome, resuscitation science, and traumatic brain injury. 

 Maria Huang, MD

Dr. Maria Huang is an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at UC San Diego and a pediatric hospitalist at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego. She graduated from UT Southwestern, completed her pediatric residency at University of Alabama-Birmingham, and completed her Pediatric Hospital Medicine fellowship at UC San Diego. Her interests include pediatric palliative care, equitable care for patients and families who have a primary language other than English, and qualitative research methods. She has had roles as the pediatric inpatient clerkship liaison and has particular interest in fostering trainee autonomy and coaching learners in compassionate communication.

 Cynthia Kuelbs, MD

Dr. Cynthia Kuelbs is the Chief Medical Information Officer at Rady Children’s Hospital.  She is a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego, and works as a pediatrician at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego.  She is board certified in Pediatrics, Child Abuse Pediatrics and Clinical Informatics. Dr. Kuelbs received her undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Minnesota.  She completed her residency at the University of California, San Diego, where she was also Chief Resident. 

Natalie Laub, MD

Dr. Laub is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UCSD. She is board certified in Pediatrics and Child Abuse Pediatrics by the American Board of Pediatrics. She completed residency at the Boston Combined Residency Program and then pursued her fellowship training in Child Abuse Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. During this she also obtained a Masters in Science and Health Policy Research. Dr Laub’s research interests include improving health care delivery models for children who are victims of abuse, utilizing clinical decision support tools to detect victims of abuse, and evaluating telehealth opportunities to reach high risk populations. She has published multiple articles, book chapters and reviews on the subject of Child Abuse and Neglect. She also has an interest in medical education and serves as the Program Director for the Child Abuse Pediatrics Fellowship at the University of California, San Diego. 

Begem Lee, MD

Dr. Begem Lee is a Pediatric Hospitalist at RCHSD and an Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at UCSD. She graduated from Dartmouth Medical School and completed her pediatric residency at UCSD, where she also was a Chief Resident. She then completed a fellowship in Pediatric Hospital Medicine. She has special interests in medical education and quality improvement. She has won several awards for her dedication to teaching, including the UCSD Department of Pediatrics "Fellow of the Year", "Attending of the Year", and the UCSD Academy of Clinician Scholars Whitehill Prize for Excellence. 

Dan Lesser, MD

Dr. Dan Lesser is a Pediatric Pulmonologist at RCHSD and an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at UCSD. After graduating from Brown University, he received his M.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Lesser completed his Pediatric Residency and Pulmonary Fellowship at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. He is the UCSD pediatric pulmonology fellowship program director and clerkship director of the pediatric pulmonary medical student elective. He was awarded the UCSD Pediatric Residency Teaching Award in 2017-2018 and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Fellow Teaching award, 2006-2007.

Heather Pierce, MD

Dr. Heather Pierce is a pediatric hospitalist at Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego a clinical professor of pediatrics at UC San Diego. She serves as the medical director for graduate medical education at Rady Children’s Hospital. She received her undergraduate degree and medical training in a combined degree program at Virginia Commonwealth University. She completed her general pediatric residency and chief residency at the Floating Hospital for Children/Tufts University in Boston and completed a fellowship in pediatric hospital medicine at Rady Children's Hospital/UC San Diego. Dr. Pierce is currently the associate director of the Innovative Quality Improvement Research in Residency (INQUIRY) Program which provides structured quality improvement education to all pediatric trainees and mentors trainees in quality improvement projects throughout the hospital. Her academic interests include quality improvement and patient safety education, family-centered care and rounding, and clinical pathway development and review.

Kyung (Kay) Rhee, MD, MSc, MA

Dr. Kay Rhee is a Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the UCSD Department of Pediatrics and the Vice Chair of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. She serves as the Medical Director of the Medical Behavioral/Eating Disorder Unit at Rady Children’s Hospital and the UCSD Center for Healthy Eating and Activity Research. She also serves as the Research Director for Pediatric Hospital Medicine. After receiving a Bachelor’s in Human Biology and Masters in Sociology at Stanford University, she completed her M.D. at Temple University. She completed her residency and was chief resident at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia before moving to the Boston area to complete her Fellowship in General Academic Pediatrics and Masters in Epidemiology at Boston University/Boston University School of Public Health. She moved to San Diego in 2010 and is currently engaged in several research endeavors around the development of family-based behavioral interventions for childhood obesity treatment, parent-child interactions, food insecurity, and other social determinants of health.

Richard Silva, MD

Dr. Richard Silva is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Division of Academic General Pediatrics, Child Development and Community Health.  He cares for newborns in the hospital and children in clinic.  He also works with the Hispanic Center of Excellence.  After graduating from UC Irvine, he earned his MD from Stanford University.  Dr. Silva completed his pediatric residency at UC San Diego.  He received the Academy of Clinician Scholars Whitehill Prize for Excellence in 2019.  He enjoys working with and teaching the new generation of doctors.

Mamata Sivagnanam, MD

Dr. Mamata Sivagnanam is a pediatric gastroenterologist at RCHSD/UCSD. She attended medical school at University of Miami, residency at Orlando Regional Healthcare and fellowship in gastroenterology, Hepatology and nutrition at UCSD. She is an Associate Professor and the UCSD pediatric gastroenterology fellowship program director. As an active physician-scientist and aims to understand intestinal homeostasis through investigation of mucosal diseases of childhood. Since serving as chief resident, she has been passionate about medical education and empowering trainees to reach their potential.

Martin Stein, MD

Dr. Marty Stein is a developmental-behavioral pediatrician and a clinician-educator at UCSD since 1975. His major academic interest has been the development of methods to incorporate concepts about child development and behavioral pediatrics into educational models and the practice of primary care pediatrics. 

Helen Wang, MD

Dr. Helen Wang is a primary care pediatrician at UCSD Pediatrics Associates and an Assistant Clinical Professor at UCSD.  She received her M.D. from UCSD and completed her Pediatric residency at UCSD.  She is the outpatient pediatric sub-internship rotation co-director, the UCSD primary care rotation site director, and the residency primary care track consultant.  As the Education Committee Chair for the Division of Academic General Pediatrics, Newborn, Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, and Community Pediatrics, she works to innovate and improve upon current clinical education practices.   Her specific interest in medical education is on improving educators’ abilities to mentor and guide learners on their journey to becoming a physician.

Stacey Ulrich, MD

Dr. Ulrich is the Chief Physician Compliance Officer at Rady Children’s Hospital.  She is a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego, and works as a pediatric emergency medicine attending at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego.  She completed her pediatric emergency medicine fellowship after her pediatric residency. Dr. Ulrich received her undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia.  She completed her residency and fellowship at the University of California, San Diego.

Elise Zimmerman, MD, MS

Dr. Elise Zimmerman is a pediatric emergency medicine physician at RCHSD/UCSD and an associate clinical professor of pediatrics at UCSD. She is the director of simulation at RCHSD. She completed her pediatric residency at Tulane/Ochsner in New Orleans and her pediatric emergency medicine fellowship at Miami Children’s Hospital, now known as Niklaus Children’s Hospital. In addition, she is actively involved in simulation for fellows, residents, medical students, PEM and hospital-wide staff. She is passionate about mentorship, collaboration and teamwork, education, and helping trainees develop skills to become excellent, compassionate physicians. 

Master Clinicians Emeritus 

Julia Beauchamp, MD

Dr. Julia Beauchamp is a pediatric hospitalist at RCHSD and a professor of clinical pediatrics at UCSD. She is currently medical director for Homecare & Helen Bernardy Subacute Unit, and Medical Consultant for CHET. She completed her medical training at UCSD and then continued her pediatric residency and chief residency at UCSD. She is actively involved with the education and mentorship of UCSD pediatric hospital medicine fellows, pediatric residents, and medical students. She has a special interest in pediatric homecare and pediatric subacute care.

Michael Gottschalk, MD, PhD

Dr. Michael Gottschalk was chief of the Endocrinology/Diabetes Division, director of the Pediatric Fellowship Program at RCHSD/UCSD and a clinical professor at UCSD.  He attended the University of Health Sciences/The Chicago Medical School, where he earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry and a M.D.  He completed his pediatric residency and a pediatric endocrinology fellowship at the UCLA. In 1996, he moved to San Diego. He was the UCSD Pediatric Residency Program Director for 9 years. He is a past recipient of Outstanding Resident Teaching Faculty Award. Dr. Gottschalk continues to focus time on various research pursuits, including growth hormone treatments and type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus.

Erin Stucky Fisher, MD, MHM, FAAP

Dr. Erin Stucky Fisher is a Pediatric Hospitalist and Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the UCSD Department of Pediatrics.  She was the UCSD Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellowship Director and Division Chief of Pediatric Hospital Medicine.  She created the Innovative Quality Improvement Research in Residency (INQUIRY) Program for residents and fellows at the University of California San Diego, and has created and teaches QI curriculum at the national level through the Quality and Safety. 

Vanessa Scott, MD

Dr. Vanessa P. Scott is an Assistant Clinical Professor and pediatrician at UCSD's Academic General Pediatric practice.  After graduating from Harvard and completing a post-baccalaureate at Columbia University, she received her MD from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Scott did residency training at UCSD and Mount Sinai, followed by an academic fellowship in community health research and a master's degree in epidemiology from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.  She has a special interest in using technology to improve parent education and is passionate about teaching the art of medicine to medical students and residents. 

Ashish Shah, MD

Ashish Shah is a Pediatric Emergency Medicine physician at RCHSD and an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at UCSD. He roamed the Midwest during for his medical training receiving his MD from Medical College of Wisconsin, completing his Pediatric Residency at the University of Minnesota, and fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. While in Cincinnati, he received a Master’s in Education from the University of Cincinnati.  He currently is the Pediatrics Emergency Medicine Residency Education Director and has a special interest in leveraging new technologies to enhance medical education and training.

Program Overview

• Direct supervision from a Mentor Clinician weekly for 3 weeks of the clerkship focused on interview and assessment skills.
• Skills Sessions:
  • Two patient simulation cases to hone and improve interview skills on some challenging cases.
  • An ethics discussion with a mentor clinician and your classmates about some of the ethical challenges which students have experienced over the 6-week clerkship.
  • A master clinician led health equity discussion about some problematic situations commonly encountered in psychiatry.

Omar Ghosn, MD

Omar Ghosn, MD, is a geriatric and consultation-liaison psychiatrist. He works in the Senior Behavioral Health Unit at UC San Diego Medical Center. He also treat patients in the Intensive Outpatient Program and has a continuity outpatient clinic for geriatric psychiatry patients. Dr. Ghosn is a proponent of a biopsychosocial comprehensive approach to mental health care. His specialty and interests are in mood disorders, the elderly, and the medically ill population. He is experienced in pharmacology, neuromodulation, psychodynamic, and cognitive behavioral psychotherapy. Dr. Ghosn enjoys continuity of care and developing meaningful relationships with his patients. Dr. Ghosn completed a fellowship in geriatric psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine, where he also trained in consultation liaison. He completed residency training in psychiatry at American University of Beirut in Lebanon and earned his medical degree from University of Balamand, also in Lebanon. Dr. Ghosn also completed two years of medical training at the Berkshire Healthcare Foundation Trust in the United Kingdom. In addition to English, he speaks French and Arabic. 

Maryam Soltani MD, PhD

Maryam Soltani MD, PhD serves as the Medical Director for the Substance Abuse Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program (SARRTP) at the VA San Diego Healthcare System and is a HS Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at UCSD. She is board-certified in Psychiatry, Family Medicine, and Addiction Medicine.  Dr. Soltani earned her doctorate from the Department of Psychology at the University of California Berkeley (UCB) with an emphasis in Neuroscience. Her research was focused on characterizing oscillatory cortical rhythms from recordings made directly off of the human cortex in patients with glioblastomas and intractable epilepsy. Inspired by working with patients, Dr. Soltani would then pursue a medical degree.  She earned her medical degree from UCSD. She remained at UCSD to complete a combined residency in Family Medicine and Psychiatry. Throughout her residency she worked extensively with San Diego’s homeless population where she gained experience managing complex medical and psychiatric conditions as well as managing substance use disorders. She served as the Chief Resident for her combined residency program as well as the senior resident for SARRTP during her final year of residency training. She enjoys teaching trainees about psychiatry, addiction medicine, medication assisted treatment as well as managing medical conditions in patients with substance use disorders. She was named a San Diego Top Doctor in 2023.  Dr. Soltani is an avid sports fan and has been known to root for the Brazilian National Soccer team, the Las Vegas Raiders and the Golden State Warriors.  In her free time Dr. Soltani enjoys watching sports, playing tennis, boxing and creating art.  

Program Overview

• Mentor Clinician paired with 1-4 MS3s during block 2 of clerkship
• MC observations, discussion, feedback sessions 4x throughout block
• Group Sessions (3-4 sessions scheduled during blocks 1 & 3 of clerkship):
  • Skills session: IV access, airway
  • Breaking Bad News/Difficult Conversations
  • Informed Consent
  • Narrative Surgery

Program Directors:  Charley Coffey, MD & Joel Baumgartner, MD

Mentor Clinicians:

Benjamin Abbadessa MD, FACS

Benjamin Abbadessa is a colorectal surgeon in the Department of Surgery at UCSD Health an Assistant Professor at UCSD School of Medicine. His practice encompasses the full spectrum of colorectal diseases and surgeries, with focus on robotic surgery and other minimally invasive techniques.  Dr. Abbadessa completed his General Surgery residency at Mt. Sinai Beth Israel, NYC and colorectal surgery fellowship at Cleveland Clinic Florida. Outside of work, Dr. Abbadessa enjoys spending time with his family. His wife, Vanessa, is a pediatrician at UCSD and he has two young children. Dr. Abbadessa and his family enjoy spending time together hiking, biking and walking on the beach.

Joel M. Baumgartner, MD, MAS, FACS

Joel Baumgartner is an Associate Professor of Surgery in the Division of Surgical Oncology at UCSD and has been the Clerkship Director for the surgery clerkship at UCSD since 2015. His practice focuses on the surgical management of peritoneal metastases and cutaneous malignancies. He conducts clinical research on the diagnosis, treatment, and surveillance of patients with peritoneal metastases and cutaneous malignancies. He also serves as a residency training course instructor for UCSD students applying into surgical residencies, a surgical shadowing preceptor for first-second year medical students, a surgical apprenticeship preceptor for a third year medical students, and instructs residents in the UCSD general surgery residency. He has been awarded the Whitehill teaching prize by the surgery residents in 2016 and 2017.

Seth Bechis, MD MS

Dr. Seth Bechis is an Associate Clinical Professor of Urology and member of the UCSD Comprehensive Kidney Stone Center. After completing his undergraduate degree in Chemistry at Harvard University, Dr. Bechis completed his medical training at the University of California, San Francisco as well as a Master’s Degree in Biomedical Sciences. He then continued his Urology residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, followed by a fellowship in Laparoscopy, Robotics and Endourology at UC San Diego. He specializes in kidney stone prevention and stone surgery as well as benign prostatic enlargement or BPH. Dr. Bechis is actively involved with resident education and has academic interests in clinical research in stone disease and BPH.

Sharona Ben-Haim, MD

Sharona Ben-Haim is an Assistant Professor and functional neurosurgeon at UC San Diego. She received her undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley, and completed medical school at UCSD. She then went to complete a research fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard University before starting her neurosurgical residency at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

She went on to complete a fellowship in Epilepsy Surgery at Yale University, followed by a visiting fellowship in functional neurosurgery at Oxford. She then came back to UC San Diego as a faculty member, where she has focused on bringing in new technology to enhance the safety and efficacy of a variety of stereotactic procedures.  She currently serves as the Director of Epilepsy Surgery and the Associate Residency Program Director in the Department of Neurosurgery.

Jennifer Berumen, MD

Jennifer Berumen is a board-certified general surgeon specializing in abdominal transplantation and hepatobiliary (liver and bile duct) surgery. As an associate clinical professor of surgery at UC San Diego she performs adult kidney, liver and pancreas transplantations. She also performs pediatric kidney and liver transplants at Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego. Dr. Berumen completed her two-year fellowship training in abdominal transplant surgery at Stanford University with a focus on pediatric liver and kidney transplantation and her general surgery residency training at UC San Diego. She earned her medical degree and her undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering from Tulane University.

Aleah L. Brubaker, MD PhD

Aleah L. Brubaker, MD, PhD, is a board-certified general surgeon who specializes in abdominal (liver and kidney) transplantation in adult and pediatric patients. Dr. Brubaker completed a fellowship in transplant surgery at Stanford Health Care in Stanford, CA, where she also did her residency in general surgery. She holds both a medical and doctorate degree from the Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, IL. As an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery, she trains medical students, residents and fellows at UC San Diego School of Medicine. Dr. Brubaker's research interests include transplantation and the human microbiome.

Susan Bukata, MD

Dr. Susan Bukata is a Professor of Orthopaedics and in February 2021 became only the 4th woman in the US to Chair a Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.  Prior to coming to UC San Diego, she was on the faculty at UCLA and the University of Rochester.  She is a clinician scientist who studies bone and cartilage tissue regeneration.  Clinically, she specializes in Musculoskeletal Oncology, Metabolic and Rare Bone Disease. It is never a dull day in her clinic with interesting and unusual patients!   Dr. Bukata mentors medical students and residents on research projects and helps guide them for their future in medicine.  She will be President of the Orthopaedic Research Society next year (2024), and is very involved in outreach both locally and nationally to help underrepresented communities and individuals find a place in Orthopaedics and musculoskeletal health fields.  

Charley Coffey, MD FACS

Charley Coffey is an Associate Professor and the Chief of Otolaryngology- Head & Neck surgery at UCSD Health. He practices head & neck oncologic surgery at UCSD Moores Cancer Center and the San Diego VA. Dr. Coffey has particular interest in salivary gland function including prevention and management of xerostomia in head & neck cancer patients and the use of minimally-invasive techniques to treat patients with obstructive salivary disorders. In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Coffey is dedicated to medical education. He is Co-Director of the UCSD Surgery Core Clerkship and the Surgery Mentor Clinician Program, serves on the faculty of numerous medical school courses, and participates in curriculum design and review for the UCSD School of Medicine, UCSD Department of Otolaryngology, and the American Head & Neck Society. His efforts have been recognized with multiple teaching awards from students and residents. Dr. Coffey completed the ACS-ASE Surgical Education Research Fellowship in 2019.Prior to joining the faculty at UCSD, Dr. Coffey completed residency training at the Medical University of South Carolina and fellowship at MD Anderson Cancer Center. He is a North Carolina native and proud Tar Heel. He is also the grateful husband of an amazing emergency medicine physician, the father of two delightful children, and an avid but decidedly mediocre cyclist.

 Bard Cosman, MD

Bard Cosman has practiced and taught general and colorectal surgery at the VA and UC San Diego since 1995.  He has won the Kaiser Teaching Award and Whitehill Prize at UC San Diego, and the Karis Caregiver Award at the VA.  His clinical interests include anal dysplasia and hidradenitis suppurativa.  He has projects and publications at the intersection of medicine and the humanities, and he is on the editorial boards of Diseases of the Colon & Rectum (American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons) and Vexillum (North American Vexillological Association).  Outside of academics, he enjoys trail running.

Gerald Gollin, MD

Dr. Gollin is a Clinical Professor of Surgery at UC San Diego and an is an attending pediatric surgeon at Rady Children’s Hospital where he has practiced since 2015.  After medical school at UC San Francisco, Dr. Gollin completed residency in general surgery at Yale-New Haven Hospital and a fellowship in pediatric surgery at the Children's Hospital of Buffalo.  After a year of practice in El Paso, Texas he joined the faculty of the Loma Linda University School of Medicine where he was an associate program director for the general surgery residency and founded the pediatric surgery fellowship program.  

Nicole Lopez, MD

Nicole Lopez, MD, is board certified in general surgery, complex general surgical oncology, colon and rectal surgery and clinical informatics. She is particularly interested in caring for patients with hereditary, advanced, recurrent, and metastatic colorectal cancers. She is skilled in laparoscopy and robotic surgery.

Dr. Lopez believes education and training of students and residents is imperative to sustaining a workforce of talented and compassionate physicians and surgeons. As such, she is the director of several medical student courses and serves as a mentor to many students. The American Medical Association recognized her nationally for her mentorship, presenting her with an Inspiration Award.

When she's not working, Dr. Lopez enjoys spending time with family and friends, playing catch with her labradoodle, making and decorating cookies, and listening to audiobooks.

Erik L. Owens, MD

Erik Owens is a vascular surgeon and Clinical Professor at UCSD.  After an early career change from chemical engineering, he received his MD degree from MCV-VCU in Richmond, VA.  He completed his general surgery residency at Penn State University in Hershey, PA and his vascular surgery fellowship at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA.  Dr. Owens joined the UCSD faculty in 1998.  While clinically active at both UCSD and the VA, he served as Surgical Service Chief at the San Diego VA Medical Center from 1999 to 2019.  He currently serves as Vascular Surgery Section Chief at the San Diego VA Medical Center where he also has Site Director responsibilities for the general and vascular surgery residents/fellows.  Dr. Owens is a past recipient of Department of Surgery teaching awards and oversees the SOM Surgery 260 elective that offers first and second year medical students the opportunity to shadow residents and attendings in the VA Vascular Surgery Clinic.  Dr. Owens enjoys being with outdoors, especially with family … and especially on the Oregon Coast.  He enjoys a good round of golf and can wile away a good number of hours on the guitar.

 Martin H. Pham, MD

Martin H. Pham, MD, is a board-certified neurosurgeon who focuses on the neurosurgical evaluation and treatment of spinal disorders. This includes adult scoliosis and spinal deformity, complex spinal reconstruction, robotic and minimally invasive spine surgery, motion preservation of the spine, spine tumors, and spine trauma.

Dr. Pham is an assistant professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery and serves as the neurosurgery clerkship course director. He is published extensively within the field of spinal conditions and has an active interest in the development of minimally invasive surgical techniques with robotics platforms to advance safer evidence-based spine care.

Dr. Pham completed a fellowship in robotic, spinal deformity, and motion preservation surgery at Columbia University's New York-Presbyterian Daniel and Jane Och Spine Hospital. He also enfolded a fellowship in minimally invasive and complex spinal surgery at Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California (USC), where he completed his residency in neurological surgery.

Christopher Reid, MD

Christopher Reid is a plastic surgeon with expertise in microsurgery, breast reconstruction, complex reconstruction, and cosmetic surgery of the breast and body. He performs breast reconstruction with free flap methods such as DIEP and PAP flaps, along with other techniques. As an expert in microsurgery, Dr. Reid can operate on a very small scale, which often involves reconnecting blood vessels that are millimeters in size.

Dr. Reid is a San Diego native who completed most of his training in San Diego and has always been dedicated to helping patients in this region. He enjoys helping patients by providing more surgical options than most medical centers can offer. As an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery, Dr. Reid trains medical students, residents and fellows at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

He was a reconstructive microsurgery fellow and clinical instructor in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at UCLA Medical Center. He completed a residency at UC San Diego School of Medicine, where he also earned his medical degree.

Dr. Reid has received many honors and awards, most recently including the Housestaff Excellence in Teaching Award, Kaiser/UC San Diego Health; the Academic Excellence Award and the Research Excellence Award from the UC School of Medicine San Diego Division of Plastic Surgery; and the Outstanding Clinical Research Award, UC San Diego Department of Surgery Research Symposium.

Dr. Reid is a proud father and husband who enjoys spending time surfing or fishing at the beach.

 Alexandra K. Schwartz, MD

Alexandra Schwartz is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon. She specializes in orthopedic trauma and surgery to treat fractured or broken bones, including clavicle, pelvic, foot, ankle, arm, elbow, knee, and shoulder injuries. Dr. Schwartz also cares for patients with complications from these injuries, such as infections and poor-healing or non-healing bones. As an orthopedic traumatologist, she has expertise working in emergency settings and with people whose injuries were caused by accidents or violence.

As a professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Dr. Schwartz instructs medical students, residents and fellows at UC San Diego School of Medicine, including directing the department's residency program and the Division of Orthopedic Trauma's fellowship program. Her research focuses on clavicle fractures, pelvic fractures, ankle fractures, compartment syndrome, and cartilage injury after knee fractures.

She has won several School of Medicine awards for her teaching ability, and has repeatedly been named a "Top Doctor" in San Diego Magazine's "Physicians of Exceptional Excellence" annual survey performed in collaboration with the San Diego County Medical Society.

Cancer in Dr. Schwartz's family motivated her at an early age to become a physician. She believes that honest communication and empathetic understanding are vital to a physician/patient relationship. She sees the most rewarding part of being an orthopedic trauma surgeon as watching patients regain their strength, saying, "Our ultimate goal is to improve the patient's quality of life and restore their function. Orthopedic trauma is often taken for granted as 'just a fracture.' However, fractures that are not treated properly can lead to disabling and chronic conditions."

Dr. Schwartz completed a fellowship in orthopedic trauma at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle (University of Washington School of Medicine) and an orthopedic residency at Harbor UCLA Medical Center. She earned her medical degree at UCLA School of Medicine. She is board certified in orthopedic surgery. She speaks fluent German and medical Spanish.

 Jessica L. Weaver, MD, PhD, FACS

Dr Jessica Weaver did her residency in general surgery at the University of Louisville and fellowship in Surgical Critical Care at the University of Pennsylvania. During residency, she also earned a PhD in physiology and biophysics. She is part of the Trauma Division’s basic science lab where she studies traumatic brain injury. She practices both trauma and acute care surgery, but her favorite part of medicine is teaching students and residents about critical care in the surgical ICU.