Dear resident applicant, incoming residents, and returning residents:

Welcome!

The UC San Diego-San Diego State University Preventive Medicine Residency offers comprehensive preventive medicine training, with access to the resources of two premier institutions. At the UC San Diego, you will be part of a large academic, clinical, teaching and research institution with more than 600 housestaff. UC San Diego preventive medicine residents have access to the myriad of research activities conducted by the preventive medicine and general faculty. Our core faculty is engaged in interdisciplinary research, with engineers, political scientists, trauma surgeons, psychologists, and others. San Diego State University School of Public Health is a leader in health promotion and epidemiologic research, and many of the faculty is engaged in international and border health research projects. We have strong ties to the San Diego County Health & Human Services Agency and as well as at the state level. Our program provides rotations in community health centers in underserved communities, including rotations in clinical preventive medicine services for migrants, refugees, and underinsured populations.

While all of our residents are trained and grounded in clinical preventive medicine, research, and population-based medicine, including public health, our program has the flexibility to provide rotations and in-depth training in a specific area of interest. Specialty track options include addiction medicine, lifestyle medicine, maternal health, clinical bioinformatics, and community-oriented preventive medicine, among others. Our graduates have been able to “follow their bliss” in pursuing careers tailored to their interests.

Your colleagues in the preventive medicine training program are from a variety of academic and medical specialty backgrounds, including our military outservice residents, who contribute to the program in many ways. Their military training has provided them with a population-based perspective, enhancing the civilian training experiences of their fellow residents. We encourage applicants who have completed an Master of Public Health or a clinical residency to consider the UC San Diego-San Diego State University Preventive Medicine Residency Program, as we have the capacity and flexibility to build on previous training, and are able to avoid redundancy.

We are proud of our residents and graduates, who have gone on to make a meaningful difference to the field. We have highlighted their achievements at this website.

While we have attempted to provide clarity and direction in our website, please feel free to contact us directly for more information.

Sincerely,

Jill Waalen, MD, MS, MPH, FACPM
Director