Recently, Brenda Ross, MD, a maternal fetal medicine specialist at UCR Health, suggested that a patient with underlying health conditions have her pregnancy managed at a larger hospital with more in-house specialists. When the patient refused, Ross agreed to work with her. Ross recalled the patient being consistent with her...

As a child in Botswana, Esther Caroline McGowan, MD, still remembers the love that her mother, a nurse, had for her patients. “That was one of the reasons that I wanted to get into medicine,” recalled McGowan, who is now a pediatrician at UCR Health. “In my mind, everyone deserved...

The UCR School of Medicine will add a new master of public health (MPH) degree program in fall 2024, adding to its efforts to improve health among the people of Inland Southern California. The two-year program integrates public health expertise from across UCR’s campus, resulting in an in-depth focus on...

Many parents teared up at the UCR School of Medicine’s second White Coat Ceremony in 2014, but one in particular stood out to Meera Nair, PhD, an associate professor of biomedical sciences. Her first lab technician, Josiah Chung, MD, had come to work with her to gain more experience before...

At a neurology conference a few years ago, Iryna Ethell, PhD, the associate dean of academic affairs and a professor of biomedical sciences at the UCR Riverside School of Medicine, noticed that children with autism would sit quietly for hours, scream suddenly, then sit quietly again. When she asked the...

Recently, someone pulled aside Cynthia Carolina, the UCR School of Medicine’s director of facilities and operations, to let her know that cars weren’t stopping at a stop sign in the parking lot. “At first I was thinking, that's totally not me,” Carolina recalled, laughing. “But then I started thinking, you...

For Jason Hasegawa, class of 2025, being the first on the scene of a medical crisis or inserting an emergency chest tube was just another day in his roles as a first responder and, later, an army medic. Completing his first UC Davis undergraduate course, algebra 1, however, terrified him...

Shortly after the founding of the UCR School of Medicine, it was time for an inventory audit—but the newly hired staff member in charge of that process realized she didn’t know who was assigned to do it. “She was in panic mode, and she reached out to me because my...

A record number of attendees celebrated the 10th Anniversary Gala and Education Building II Grand Opening at the UC Riverside School of Medicine on Saturday, October 21, 2023. This year’s gala was particularly special as it was held for the first time in the medical school’s new building on campus...

Hearing several of her patients make plans for their commencement ceremony as part of their UC Riverside undergraduate class this year, Toshia Yamaguchi, MD, a psychiatrist at UCR Health, felt a strong sense of pride. “I’m so incredibly impressed by them, and by how much they persisted,” she recalled. Yamaguchi’s...

The UC Riverside School of Medicine celebrated the grand opening of the new School of Medicine Education Building II with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday, September 26, 2023. More than 300 guests attended event, which was held in conjunction with the year-long celebration of the school's tenth anniversary. See...

The School of Medicine hosted the 2023 Celebration of Women in Medicine and Science on September 12 with Shirley Malcom, PhD, the senior advisor and director of SEA Change at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), delivering the keynote address. It was the first event held in...

Growing up as a lifeguard in Long Beach, Timothy J. Collins, EdD, MHA, FACHE, EMT, always wondered what happened to people after he rescued them from the water. This curiosity led to his lifelong medical career, including serving as an emergency medical technician and other roles that focused on improving...

This year’s White Coat Ceremony saw 86 medical students and four biomedical sciences students at the UC Riverside School of Medicine receive their white coats, symbolizing their entry into the medical profession. The 2023 event was held Friday, August 4 at the Student Recreation Center on the UC Riverside campus...

Laughter is often found in an unexpected place at the UCR School of Medicine: the Office of Financial Aid. Kathleen Buckner, the director of financial aid, and Theresa Luther, the assistant director, converse in undertones and long glances before suddenly breaking into giggles. Both women started at the UCR central...

For the past four years, Cristina Gonzalez, now a project analyst in the Department of Social Medicine, Population, and Public Health (SMPPH) at the UC Riverside School of Medicine, would rush to make progress on homework assignments during her lunch break, stay up until 11 pm to take proctored exams...

The Longitudinal Ambulatory Care Experience is the core UCR SOM medical program that helps medical students serve local patients beginning in their first year while building their foundation as physicians.

As a child growing up in Bakersfield, CA, Jarrod McNaughton remembers standing in lines with his mother to receive government-issued food. Now, as the CEO of Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP), McNaughton helps provide affordable healthcare to inland Southern California families like his. McNaughton had never considered working in healthcare...

After years of planning and two years of construction, the UC Riverside School of Medicine will celebrate the grand opening of the new School of Medicine Education Building II on Tuesday, September 26, 2023.

Hundreds of thousands of spinal surgeries are performed every year in the U.S., with many involving pedicle screws to stabilize the vertebrae. As patients walk around with the implanted screw—many for the rest of their lives—most are likely unaware that the proceeds from one type of pedicle screw helps fund...