UCSD Combined Internal Medicine & Pediatrics Residency Program FAQs:

For Internal Medicine, med peds residents rotate at all major teaching hospitals:   

• UCSD Hillcrest (county safety net hospital)  

• UCSD La Jolla (Thornton/Jacobs Medical Centers + Cardiovascular Center)  

• VA Hospital  

• Multiple outpatient sites, including Kaiser, FQHC sites, VA and UCSD-affiliated clinics, and more.  

For Pediatrics, med peds residents rotate at:   

• Rady Children’s Hospital   

• Multiple outpatient sites, including Rady Children’s-associated clinics, Kaiser, FQHC sites, Balboa Naval Medical campus, and more.  

UCSD Health is ranked #1 in San Diego and is in the top 10 academic medical centers for patient care in the nation. With two campuses including our county safety net hospital, residents receive a broad education in an award-winning hospital system.   

The VA San Diego Medical Campus is a ~300-bed tertiary care hospital next to the medical school campus that serves as a referral center for the region and is consistently ranked as one of the top VA hospitals in the country.  

Rady Children’s Hospital is the largest children’s hospital in California and ranked in the top 10 children’s hospitals in the nation. It is a referral center for the region, with every subspecialty represented and broad exposure to both common and complex pediatric presentations.   

Here’s a link to more information about each site! UCSD Med Peds Training Sites  

Med Peds residents have separate academic medicine and pediatrics clinics. This allows for an excellent balance in pediatric and adult primary care experience as well as the opportunity to learn from our outstanding categorical colleagues and faculty. (Med Peds faculty teach at these sites as well!) All sites see a variety of patients from different demographics with diverse medical and social needs, including FQHC sites with a large refugee population.

Our residents also have Med Peds Primary Care blocks, where they work in med peds clinics in the community (both private practice and FQHC sites) in addition to their separate medicine and pediatrics continuity clinics. This provides our residents a broad range of exposure to different med peds practice models, from academic to private practice to FQHC.   

Yes! Residents may spend up to 2 months abroad during their training. We have a partnership with the main teaching hospital in Maputo, Mozambique through our medicine program.  UCSD is 20 minutes from the US-Mexico border, and there are also opportunities to learn from our colleagues in Tijuana, including a rotation through pediatrics and volunteer opportunities.   

Residents are also able to spend 4-6 weeks in Shiprock, New Mexico at the Indian Health Services Medical Center. Many physicians at this site are med-peds trained, and residents have the opportunity to see kids and adults depending on the duration of the rotation.

Yes! We strive to maintain ample elective time within the constraints of ACGME requirements for med peds. Elective time is spread throughout all 4 years of training. We have over 60 electives to choose from. We are committed to preparing residents to care for underserved and vulnerable populations. To support this mission, the Med-Peds curriculum includes dedicated elective time for focused training in areas such as immigrant health, HIV care through the Owen Clinic, gender medicine, underserved medicine, and substance use treatment.