Education at UC San Diego
School of Medicine

UCSD Med Students in the SIM Center

Where discoveries are delivered

Our School of Medicine and UC San Diego provides a supportive and challenging educational environment where more than 1,400 students, fellows and residents of diverse backgrounds prepare themselves for careers characterized by commitment to excellence in service to others through patient care, research, teaching and lifelong learning.

Interdisciplinary collaboration throughout the UC San Diego campus makes for an environment vibrant with the excitement of exploration and invention. We encourage students to go beyond the core curriculum and pursue electives and independent studies that take full advantage of the resources available at UC San Diego and in the surrounding region, helping them to become expert clinicians and scientists who are aware of, and responsive to, community needs.

Masters & PhD Programs Academic Departments

Integrated Curriculum

While traditional teaching methods such as cadaveric learning and rounding remain core features, our innovative curriculum also includes many opportunities to integrate ultrasound technology, contribute to global health initiatives, and improve patient safety. In our Student-Run Free Clinic, for example, our students experience hands-on learning while providing quality healthcare to underserved communities.

Student-Run Free Clinic

Specialized Learning Environments

Through our Center for the Future of Patient Care, students gain procedural skills through simulations in the Simulation Training Center; perform physical exams and have difficult discussions with virtual patients in our Professional Development Center; and practice simulated surgeries in the Center for the Future of Surgery.

About our Sim Center

UCSD Telemedicine building

Research Opportunities

Science informs medicine and medicine informs science. Our medical students are encouraged to intern in our research labs, where they advance our understanding of human disease and contribute to the development of new diagnostics and therapeutics in cardiology, neurology, cancer, diabetes, infectious diseases and more, while deepening their analytical and reasoning skills.

Learn about our research