Our dedicated team of GME physician peer supporters, consisting of residents and fellows, are here to listen, provide guidance, and give emotional support to GME physicians facing challenges of the medical profession.
All interactions with peer supporters are confidential and judgement-free.
About Me: PGY-2 Resident, Psychiatry
Talk to me About: Burnout, communication, social isolation, patient care, LGBTQ+ issues, self-compassion, and work-life balance
About Me: After growing up in San Jose, CA, I went to Barnard College in New York to study dance. After realizing I was more suited for medicine, I completed my pre-reqs and moved to Seattle for my first "real job" as a clinical research coordinator. I was fortunate to train at UC Davis for medical school, residency, and a chief residency year. After eight years in Sacramento, I started a new adventure in San Diego for fellowship in hematology and oncology. You can find me walking around town, exploring coffee shops, and binging the occasional rom com.
Talk to me about: Career exploration, women in medicine, dual physician-in-training couple, dimensions of wellness.
About Me: Mandeep Bajwa is originally from a small town in Northern California, but has found himself in San Diego for all of his advanced training (since medical school to fellowship). He is a current fellow in pediatric gastroenterology and was a previous chief residents of the Pediatric Residency Program. He loves to hike, camping, skimboarding, SUP, and all things Harry Potter.
Talk to me about: Transitions in training, professionalism incidents, acute clinical stressors, and burnout
About Me: Nick is aggressively positive despite being from New Jersey. He graduated with a degree in physics from Juanita College in Pennsylvania, attended medical school at the University of Minnesota, and just kept moving west.
Nick spent 6 years of active duty in the US Navy serving as a Naval Flight Surgeon with tours in Japan and Coronado, CA. He is now a Chief Anesthesiology Resident at University of California San Diego. Nick maintains a rare perspective in medical safety including influences from training in both anesthesiology and US Naval aviation safety. He firmly believes that human factors are a major determinant of patient outcomes and that well established aviation approaches for reducing human error are invaluable tools for the healthcare field and any high-risk profession.
Nick lives in sunny San Diego, CA with his wife, two young boys, and their two dogs. When not facilitating patient-centered surgical care in the hospital, he enjoys all that Southern California has to offer: beaches, hiking, sailing, live music, fine food, and being mindfully present in the moment.
Talk to me about: Medical errors, workplace conflicts, burnout, relationship/family issues, mindfulness, freewill and philosophy, radical acceptance, and other topics.
About Me: I’m a neurosurgery resident with interests in skull base and cerebrovascular/endovascular neurosurgery. I grew up in San Diego, went to UC Berkeley for college, spent a couple years working in San Francisco before returning to UC San Diego for medical school, graduate school, and residency. My research includes big data outcome analyses, vascular flow models, and understanding molecular drivers of skull base tumor behavior. I enjoy time with my family, traveling, snowboarding, and basketball.
Talk to me about: Time management, balancing clinical and research responsibilities, teamwork, and resiliency.
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Talk to me about: Burnout, work-life balance, interpersonal communication, adjusting to residency, navigating challenging patient interactions, integrating poor outcomes
About me: My passions in medicine are primary care behavioral health, physician wellness, sports medicine and athlete mental health, palliative care, adolescent medicine, and addiction medicine. My passions outside of medicine are trying new restaurants and coffee shops, spending time outside and at the beach, watching as many sports as possible, and hanging out with family, friends, and my dog, Rory!
Talk to me about: Having a partner not in medicine, having a family member with a chronic health condition and the impact it has on you as both a source of support and countertransference-wise, challenges of being the only medical professional in your family, imposter syndrome, and navigating intern year.
About me: I grew up in the San Francisco East Bay and became a SoCal transplant after doing my undergraduate studies at UC San Diego and medical school at UC Irvine (zot zot zot!). I’m currently a PGY3 in the Internal Medicine program at UC San Diego. I am planning to do hospital medicine and have interests in medical education, quality improvement, team-dynamics, palliative care, and geriatric medicine. Outside of the hospital, I enjoy traveling, trying new restaurants in San Diego (I'm always open for recommendations!), cooking at home with my husband and friends, doing home improvement projects, and running with my dog on the beach.
Talk to me about: Navigating work-life balance, challenging patient interactions/outcomes, self-advocacy, developing self-compassion, interpersonal communication in the workplace, and processing grief.
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Talk to me about: Interpersonal communication and conflict, burnout, challenging patient interactions, professional development, education
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About me: I'm Yasamin (Yasi) Mohammadi and I am excited to fulfill this role as a peer supporter. I truly believe that by working together and supporting each other we can be do our best to be excellent physicians. I was born and raised in Diamond Bar, California, lived in the Bay Area for 8 years (where I went to UC Berkeley), lived in Kansas City for medical school and spent 1 year in Fresno, California learning more about taking care of the state's most vulnerable populations. I am deeply interested and committed to working with underserved communities and love being a pediatrician because I believe truly are the promise of the future. When I am not at work, you can find me mentoring a group of middle schoolers in my community, drinking my body volume in milk tea boba, reading, sweating in hot yoga, swimming, or walking outside because I love nothing more than sunshine and a nice, long walk.
Talk to me about: Anything. While I may have had certain experiences that could help with discussing some topics, there is still so much I have yet to learn. I am ready to lend a listening ear to whatever concerns/worries/topics people may want to discuss.
About me: Hi! My name is Rohini, and I’m born and raised in San Diego. So naturally, I’m a big fan of the San Diego Zoo (more specifically the Safari Park - I love the Okapi exhibit!). If I’m not at the zoo or the hospital, then you can probably find me wandering around Costco with my husband. I went to USC for college, University of Arizona for medical school and now I’m completing my last year of general surgery residency at UCSD with plans to stay here for a vascular surgery fellowship. I also completed an MPH at UCI after college.
Talk to me about: Real Housewives (any location), imposter syndrome, dessert preferences, self-confidence, anything that’s on your mind.
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Talk to me about: Non-traditional paths to medicine, changing specialties, having children during medical training, work-life struggles, infertility, pregnancy loss, navigating a loved one's illness, imposter syndrome
About me: As a Los Angeles native, I am so thrilled to be back in Southern California after a 5-year stint in New York City. I completed my B.A. in English Literature at Barnard College before pursuing my M.A. in English and Comparative Literature at the Columbia University School of Arts and Sciences. Following a one-year pre-medical post-baccalaureate program at Scripps College, I attended medical school at UC Irvine. A current psychiatry resident, I am interested in consult-liaison psychiatry, conversion disorders, and psychotherapy. When not working, I enjoy baking challah, listening to showtunes, taking exercise classes, and spending time with loved ones.
Talk to me about: Interpersonal conflicts, imposter syndrome, navigating burnout, experiencing medical issues as a trainee
About me: I'm originally from Pittsburgh PA, and I moved to San Diego for residency. My clinical interests include psychotherapy, trauma, and personality organization. For fun I love live music, hiking, soccer, and traveling.
Talk to me about: Work-life balance, burn out, challenging patients, self-compassion, professional communication and navigating conflict.
About me: I grew up all around the world, moving a lot for my parents' jobs, but I graduated high school in Singapore. I joined the Air Force in 2009 and have been in the military ever since. Before starting residency, I spent 4 years as a flight surgeon and had the opportunity to deploy a couple of times. Residency has been the first time I’ve lived out West... So, in my free time, you’ll find me exploring new bars and restaurants with my wife, heading to concerts, car camping, running, golfing, or hanging out with friends. My wife and I also have a 16-year-old dog we adopted from her older sister 8 years ago. She doesn’t move around as well but still somehow finds her way into trouble.
Talk to me about: Work-life boundary setting, self-advocacy, military medicine
About me: Originally born and raised in the San Bernadino County, I moved to the Bay Area for college at UC Berkeley (Go Bears!), stayed for San Francisco's delectable food and vibrant culture, pursued my medical education at UC San Francisco, and returned to SoCal for the next chapter of my lifelong learning career as part of UC San Diego's Internal Medicine residency program. My career interests include medical education, health equity, HIV translational research, and patient advocacy. When I'm not engaged in clinical duties, you can almost certainly find me relaxing with a milk tea, reading everything from German philosophy to romance novels, bopping to my favorite songs, exploring the city's best food spots, and making excruciatingly bad puns.
Talk to me about: Being a woman in medicine/science, first generation in higher education and/or health profession, work-life boundary setting, self-advocacy, managing micro- and macro-aggressions in the workplace and resilience in adversity.
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Talk to me about: Self-advocacy, self judgement vs. self-growth, life balance, and the challenges of early career/residency life.
About me: Originally born and raised in Los Angeles area, I stayed in the area for college and went to USC where I studied Biology and Spanish. I moved up the coast to the Pacific Northwest for my medical training at Oregon Health & Scence University. I am so happy to be back in So Cal training in Psychiatry at UC SanDiego. Outside of work I love going to the beach, traveling, live music, and exploring all the great things San Diego has to offer.
Talk to me about: Physician wellness, navigating life stressors through residency, self-compassion, and anything else you may want to talk about
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Talk to me about: Personal loss/grief, Fatigue or sleep disorders in medicine, being a woman in medicine/science, challenging patient interactions/outcomes, anxiety and catastrophizing/feeling spread too thin.
About me: Born in Korea and raised in Auckland, New Zealand, I moved to Los Angeles for undergrad at UCLA. Worked in Health Information Management for a few years in Pasadena, then hopped over to Dartmouth in New Hampshire for med school. Missed the sun, so came back to sunny CA! I am currently a PGY-4/CA-3 in Anesthesiology. When not working, you can find me at the gym, relaxing at the beach, or exploring San Diego with my friends/corezzies!
Talk to me about: Resilience, expectation management, or anything else on your mind!
About me: I grew up in the Bay Area and went to UCLA for college, UC SanDiego for medical school, and stayed at UC San Diego for my internal medicine residency training. I’m currently interested cardiology, medical education, and ensuring people feel well supported during their training years. Outside the hospital, you can find me playing soccer, working out, rock climbing, mixing cocktails, spending time at the beach, or exploring the San Diego food scene.
Talk to me about: Work-life balance, inter-personal communication, transitions, faith
About me: I was born and raised in Los Angeles before coming to San Diego for undergrad. I then moved to San Francisco for medical school. I knew I had to make my way back to the best city so I came back to San Diego for residency in Otolaryngology. I am currently a 5th year resident with plans to pursue a fellowship in laryngology.
Talk to me about: Surgical residencies; racial inequities; balancing a relationship in residency.