Esther Caroline McGowan, MD, MS, has been appointed associate dean for clinical medical education at the UC Riverside School of Medicine. She will begin in the position on September 1, 2026.
“I am delighted to welcome Dr. McGowan to our medical education leadership team,” said Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences and the Mark and Pam Rubin Dean Deborah Deas, MD, MPH. “Clinical education is at the heart of how we prepare our students to become outstanding physicians, and it is particularly important to our community-based model. She brings the leadership and experience necessary to ensure that our students continue to receive high-quality clinical learning experiences across our growing network of partners.”
McGowan is a board-certified pediatrician who sees patients at UCR Health and previously served as the co-director of the Longitudinal Ambulatory Care Experience (LACE). Her educational interests include clinical reasoning, social determinants of health, and preparing future physicians to provide compassionate, culturally responsive care to diverse and underserved communities.
"I am both honored and humbled to serve as associate dean for clinical medical education. From the beginning of my career, I have been deeply committed to medical education and to helping shape the knowledge, skills, compassion, and character of the next generation of physicians," McGowan said. "I look forward to continuing this work together and supporting our exceptional students as they become culturally responsive, patient-centered physicians and leaders who will serve the Inland Empire and beyond."
In her new position, McGowan will oversee all aspects of clinical medical education, working closely with medical education leaders including Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education Pablo Joo, MD, on curricular development, management, faculty development, and continuous quality improvement. She will provide leadership to clerkship directors, affiliate site directors, clerkship site leaders, coordinators, and the broader clinical education team responsible for student training at multiple hospitals and dozens of outpatient sites throughout the region.
She will also work with the Office of Assessment and Evaluation to evaluate educational outcomes and with medical education quality and compliance leadership to support continuous quality improvement and LCME accreditation and will help identify and support students who may need additional assistance in developing clinical knowledge, skills, or professional behaviors.
