Foreword from the Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences and Dean of the School of Medicine...

This is an exhilarating and challenging time to enter the field of health care and biomedical research. The pace of progress is rapid, and the sophisticated tools available to physicians and scientists today - from molecular biology and genomics, to bioinformatics, to new technologies supporting clinical research - far surpass anything that could have been predicted only a few decades ago.

The physician of the future must be prepared to practice medicine and keep pace with new developments in the life sciences. The UCSD School of Medicine is uniquely positioned to provide a solid foundation for a successful career, whether your focus turns out to be primary care, subspecialty medicine, academia or private practice. We seek to train compassionate physicians and physician-scientists who are highly skilled practitioners, innovators and leaders.

Our educational philosophy is to give students an opportunity to go beyond the core curriculum and pursue electives and independent study, with a wide range of opportunities for second degrees. Students have many opportunities for extracurricular experience, whether working in the laboratory of an internationally prominent investigator, or caring for a family with no health insurance through our superb student-run Free Clinic program.

And for students seeking a dual-degree, we offer a variety of advanced training opportunities, leading to master's and Ph.D. degrees in multiple disciplines. We have expanded our post-graduate opportunities beyond the usual health and science disciplines to support second degrees in areas such as management and the humanities.

There is no better place to find teachers and mentors at the forefront in their fields, whose work in clinical, laboratory and community settings is dedicated to biomedical discovery and advancing health care practice and policy.

The UCSD School of Medicine is consistently ranked first or second in the nation in funding per faculty member, a measure of the faculty's scientific prowess and productivity. UCSD physicians and researchers have been lauded with numerous awards and honors, including the Nobel Prize, Lasker Award and the membership of over 80 faculty members in the National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine. The prestigious Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute are a significant presence on the School of Medicine campus, further enriching the depth of programs and talent at UCSD.

With a community of scholars dedicated to moving quickly from basic research to practical application, and a unique organizational structure encouraging interdisciplinary work, it is understandable that UCSD would excel in translational medicine - the "bench-to-bedside" ethic of those who work at the intersection of science and medicine.

Here, laboratory discoveries lead directly to advances in patient care. UCSD faculty have developed powerful new drugs that effectively treat, even cure, certain cancers. Advances in treating Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, stroke and heart disease have resulted from findings in UCSD laboratories and clinical trials led by UCSD researchers.

UCSD Healthcare is known as a center for leading edge medicine, and outstanding clinical programs. Our physicians are recognized leaders in their professional societies, heading national organizations and committees dedicated to improving care and advancing knowledge about disease. They are prominently listed in publications such as "The Best Doctors in America" and in Good Housekeeping and U.S. News and World Report rankings of outstanding physicians and clinical programs.

For example, the pulmonary thromboendarterectomy (PTE) team is the most successful in the world, utilizing procedures developed and perfected at UCSD Medical Center to restore life to patients who are near death due to chronic pulmonary embolism. Patients from around the country travel to see UCSD orthopedic specialists, experts in a highly refined cartilage transplantation technique that restores the use of damaged joints. UCSD Healthcare sites are home to numerous regional programs, including a Level 1 trauma center, a high-risk pregnancy center and neonatal intensive care unit, the region’s leading AIDS/HIV treatment program, an innovative Stroke Center serving hospitals in San Diego and Imperial Counties that is recognized as a national model, and the UCSD Regional Burn Center which saved so many lives during the recent firestorms that devastated our community.

This region, with its shared international border, provides our physicians, medical students, residents and fellows the opportunity to practice preventive, primary and specialized medicine in a community that is diverse in every respect. We care for the complete spectrum of patients - the insured and the uninsured, the young and the elderly, residents of San Diego's most populous urban communities, people in isolated rural settings and on reservations, and new immigrants from developing countries.

UCSD's hospitals and outpatient centers are based in La Jolla and Hillcrest and we have clinical and training affiliations with hospitals and medical practices throughout the San Diego and Imperial Counties. Our partnership with Children's Hospital and Health Center enables us to treat a significant number of the region's pediatric patients, and relationships with the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Naval Medical Center expand our patient base even further. We also have important programs and partnerships with several community-based agencies serving the homeless and needy in San Diego and in Mexico.
The medical campus is constantly evolving to support the exploration of emerging frontiers.

To meet the need for specialized pharmacists and to expand pharmaceutical research at UCSD, we have opened a new School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Our new functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) facility has with four powerful magnets dedicated to studies of the brain, heart and other organs - the largest such facility in the Western United States. Our high-powered Electron Microscopy and Imaging Resource serves the western U.S. We have recently opened a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) facility with a cyclotron, further expanding our abilities to apply the latest imaging technologies to research and patient care.

The Rebecca and John Moores' UCSD Cancer Center is one of a select group of National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers, recognizing its excellence in the multiple missions of patient care, research and community outreach. A spectacular state-of-the-art facility to house its extensive clinical programs and research laboratories will be open on the La Jolla campus in early 2005.

And, in order to further mobilize the many areas of expertise needed to fully capitalize on the new biology of the 21st century, we have created integrated programs such as the Institute for Molecular Medicine and the Cardiovascular Center, which unite basic researchers, clinicians, surgeons and post-graduate students in bench-to-bedside efforts to conquer disease.

UCSD is a top-ranked university with highly respected programs in biological and physical sciences, marine science, biomedical and computer engineering, cognitive science and related disciplines. The School of Medicine was originally designed to capitalize on the strength of the superb basic science departments already established on the general campus rather than duplicate those programs, and after more than three decades this organizational model continues to serve us well.

The interdisciplinary collaboration throughout campus makes for an environment of incredible depth and breadth, vibrant with the excitement of exploration and invention. The synergy among scientists and clinicians, faculty, staff and students, fosters innovation and learning. This approach has resulted in the unprecedented success of the university, its faculty and graduates.

For example, the San Diego Supercomputer Center is a national resource located in the center of campus. The California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Cal [IT]2), based at UCSD, is a powerhouse in the practical application of wireless technology, and is pioneering an exciting new initiative in post-genomic, digitally-enhanced, individualized medicine. And, UCSD's biomedical engineering program is among the best in the nation, with research efforts spanning the engineering field from technology development to the growth of human tissue.

The UCSD campus is at the hub of one of the most concentrated biotechnology and research communities in the nation. Creative synergy connects scientists from the Salk Institute, Scripps Research Institute, Burnham Institute, and other world-class research institutions based in San Diego, all active participants in UCSD teaching and research programs.

In addition to scientific collaborations, there are many joint training programs with these institutions, providing opportunities for UCSD medical and post-graduate students to pursue their research interests beyond the campus. We benefit from the additional support and involvement of the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries on the Torrey Pines Mesa surrounding our campus. Many of these private companies are spin-offs, founded and run by UCSD graduates and faculty.

We are further expanding our focus by actively pursuing partnerships with respected academic institutions around the world, focusing on the Pacific Rim. For example, we are broadening educational exchange opportunities with Beijing, China; Singapore and India, to help prepare our students to function on a world stage, since medicine and science are best approached without the constraint of geographic boundaries.

We have launched an initiative to unify these elements in an integrated center or "College" for Integrated Life Sciences (COILS). COILS serves as a focal point for basic and clinical research efforts taking place all across campus, and further supports our commitment to cultivate a fertile training ground for physician-scientists and Ph.D.s whose focus is improving human health. COILS encompasses the Institute for Molecular Medicine supporting pre-clinical discovery, the Clinical Investigation Institute to coordinate and support experimental medicine and clinical trials, and the Academy the Clinician Scholars, an organization of master clinicians who serve as role models and promote the advancement of clinical excellence. Together these units ensure the translation of fundamental discoveries into new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies that improve human health.

This School of Medicine is deeply invested in the future. We are committed to training physicians and leaders who will forge the new frontiers in medicine and carry us into the 21st century, advancing the health of our community and beyond.

If you relish the challenge of answering the next unanswered question, want to acquire the skills necessary to be a first-rate physician in the 21st Century, and seek an environment where the energy and excitement generated by collaboration and progress are palpable, we encourage you to look closely at the programs described in this catalog.