Department of Medicine

To understand the origins of human health and disease.

To use this knowledge to develop innovative preventative, diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to illness.

To mentor the practitioners, teachers, investigators, and health care leaders of the future.

To deliver cutting edge and compassionate medical care to our patients and community.

Who We Are

Ken Kaushansky, M.D., M.A.C.P.,
Helen M. Ranney Professor and Chair

With over 360 full-time faculty members and nearly 90 academic researchers, the Department of Medicine is the largest of the distinguished departments in the UC San Diego School of Medicine.

Our internal medicine specialty training programs include more than 100 resident physicians and 150 fellows and postdoctoral scholars.

The UC San Diego Department of Medicine is dedicated to clinical excellence through service, innovation and education.

Our Honors and Awards

Our faculty physicians and scientists are honored members of the leading academic societies:

• American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) - 59 members.
• Association of American Physicians (AAP) - 35 members.
• Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences - 9 members.
• National Academy of Sciences - 7 members.

Our Research

We are engaged in over 400 different biomedical research programs this year, with a research budget of $84.4 million.

Our faculty members are at the forefront of translational research, bringing new scientific knowledge rapidly and safely to the bedside.

Our National Rankings

The Department of Medicine is recognized for its leadership in the most respected national rankings of clinical and research institutions.

Four UC San Diego Department of Medicine subspecialties ranked among the nation's best on the U.S. News & World Report "Best Hospitals" list for 2008:

• Respiratory Diseases (6th).
• Rheumatology (16th).
• Kidney Disease (35th).
• Cancer (43rd).

Featured Profiles

Dr. John M. Carethers knew at age 7 that he would become a physician. Now he's Professor of Medicine, Chief of Gastroenterology, and a new member of ASCI.

How did he get from there to here? For one, he credits his parents' unswerving belief in the value of education.

"My parents sacrificed a lot to get us educated," he says.  Read his story.

During Scarlet Shell's doctoral studies in biomedical sciences at UC San Diego, the Med Into Grad program gave her a rare chance to spend time on the front lines of TB care in Peru.

"It made it all real," she says, "in a way that never quite happens from reading about it or hearing about it."

Now, she's headed for postdoctoral research in infectious diseases at Harvard.  Read her story.

Davey Smith, M.D., M.A.S., just received his first R01 grant award for a 5-year study of HIV/AIDS variants around the world.

He and his coworkers hope to find out why HIV causes dementia in some individuals and not in others.

“UCSD is a great place for doing translational research, applying basic science to clinical problems,” Dr. Smith says. "There's very strong support for it here."  Read his story.

Internal Medicine Residency Program graduates and current residents, from left:Dr. Shua Chai, 2006, now with the Centers for Disease Control; Dr. Rebecca Sell, Chief Resident in 2007, now a fellow in Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine at UC San Diego; Dr. Hong Nguyen, 2006, now a fellow in Cardiology at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles; Dr. Jeff Rauch, Chief Resident, 2006, now a fellow in Gastroenterology at UC Irvine; Dr. Brian Kolski, Chief Resident, 2008, beginning a fellowship in Cardiology at UC San Diego after graduation.