Growing up in Moreno Valley, Carla Urmeneta witnessed local health issues like poor air quality in her hometown. After earning her MBA in healthcare administration and management from Cal Baptist University, she was accepted into the UCR School of Medicine’s Administrative Fellowship program, allowing her to learn more about regional...

The UC Riverside School of Medicine's new Family Medicine Residency Program is accepting applications for the first class of eight residents, which will begin July 1, 2025. "Our program offers a comprehensive and diverse training experience across multiple clinical sites," said Program Director Ken Ballou, MD. "Our residents will gain...

UC Riverside alumna Carolyn Russo, MD, will return to her alma mater on November 21 to present during the School of Medicine Grand Rounds--but as a high school student, she never envisioned a career in medicine. Growing up in West Covina, Russo, now medical director of the Affiliate Program and...

Recently, a patient advised UCR Health psychiatrist Jami Woods, MD, DPh to dream bigger. “He said, ‘If people are not laughing at your dream, you're not dreaming big enough,’” she recalled. “That was from a patient--that wasn't from a psychotherapist; that wasn't from a PhD psychologist.” Woods, who is accepting...

UCR Health has named Herodia Allen as its new chief operating officer (COO), effective October 14, 2024. She brings a wealth of experience in population health and health system operations, having most recently served as COO for the Woodland Hills and West Ventura service area at Kaiser Permanente since December...

The UC Riverside School of Medicine has named Michelle Anne Bholat, MD, MPH as the new chair of the Department of Family Medicine. She will begin the position on November 15, 2024. Bholat comes to the UCR SOM from the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, where she has had...

For the second year in a row, a sold-out crowd attended the UCR SOM’s Celebration of Medical Education Gala to support the school’s Mission Award Scholarship. Monica Carson, PhD, chair of the Division of Biomedical Sciences and S. Sue Johnson Presidential Endowed Chair in Glial-Neuronal Interactions, welcomed the attendees, noting...

For UCR Health physician Janet Cruz, MD, the best part about working with patients is conducting their postoperative visits, when she can compare their condition before and after surgery and see their reactions. For one patient with advanced endometriosis, “the before and after was night and day,” Cruz said. Her...

The UCR School of Medicine Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion hosted the second annual National Latino Physician Day celebration on September 28 to honor the contributions of Latino/a/e/x physicians and work to improve quality of care for Latino populations in the U.S. According to Michael Galvez, MD, creator of...

Moazzum Bajwa, MD, MPH, an associate clinical professor in family medicine for the UC Riverside School of Medicine, has been named the California Academy of Family Physicians 2024 Family Physician of the Year. Bajwa is the director of the school's Longitudinal Ambulatory Care Experience (LACE) and sees patients at the...

Recently, a first-time foster mother visited UCR Health with two neglected and withdrawn children. Pediatrician Tejal Khandhar, DO, worked with her to provide nutrition guidance, updated vaccinations, speech therapy, and additional resources. Within a few months, Khandhar recalled, the children acted healthy and playful on their visit—and the foster mother...

UCR School of Medicine alumnus Kishan Patel, MD will join the cast of the 47th season of Survivor. The season will premiere on September 18 on CBS with streaming on Paramount. Patel, who graduated from the SOM in 2022, is currently an emergency medicine resident at UC San Francisco. The...

On Tuesday, the UCR School of Medicine hosted the 2024 Celebration of Women in Medicine & Science, honoring women's contributions to science while looking to the future. The annual event, which was held in a remote, online format this year because of smoke from the nearby Line Fire, featured a...

As a local community activist, Jorge Delos Santos, director of Community Health Programs at Riverside-based nonprofit TruEvolution, heard rumors about a new master of public health (MPH) program at the UC Riverside School of Medicine. Yet despite his interest and qualifications, Delos Santos initially lacked the confidence to apply when...

Hanh Nguyen, MD, has been appointed as the associate dean for career advising at the UC Riverside School of Medicine, beginning Oct. 1, 2024. His position also includes a faculty appointment as clinical professor in the Department of Family Medicine. Nguyen is the associate chief medical officer at UCR Student...

UC Riverside School of Medicine Professor of Biomedical Sciences Scott Pegan, PhD, has been named associate dean for preclerkship medical education beginning Sept. 2, 2024 In his new role, Pegan will work closely with Sherif Hassan, MD, the executive associate dean for pre-clerkship medical education to enhance the pre-clerkship medical...

Linda Reimann, assistant dean for Strategic Initiatives and chief of staff of the UC Riverside School of Medicine, has been selected to receive the Distinguished Service Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Group on Institutional Planning (GIP). The award recognizes the contributions of members of the GIP...

The UCR School of Medicine’s 2024 White Coat Ceremony, held on Friday, August 9, welcomed 87 new medical students and five PhD candidates in biomedical sciences. The annual event presents each incoming class with white coats to symbolize the beginning of their journey into medicine. Deborah Deas, MD, MPH, the...

As a postdoctoral researcher, Emma Wilson, PhD, a professor of biomedical sciences at UCR and associate dean for Graduate Division, recalled being in a male-dominated science environment. “I think at the time, I wasn't fully aware of what a boys club I was in,” she recalled. “I did well there...

The first time Madison Critcher, a cadet at the United States Military Academy (West Point), made gels to visualize proteins in a UC Riverside lab, they didn’t work. But to her surprise, no one was upset. “We just learned how to do it and tried again, and were much more...