Los Angeles County-Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Program

Emergency Medicine Analyst Verified · Sep 18, 2026

Los Angeles County-Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Program

Los Angeles County-Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Program is a residency program specializing in Emergency Medicine, located in Torrance, California, directed by Ryan A. Pedigo, MD, MHPE and coordinated by Christiane Roeder-Sanchez. The program accepts applications through December 31, 2026. International Medical Graduates interested in this program may contact the program coordinator directly at [email protected] or (424) 306-5400. IMGPrep analysts have verified and compiled this program’s IMG acceptance rate, USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 score requirements, Visa Sponsorship Policy, graduation year cutoff, and ECFMG certificate requirements — available to IMGPrep subscribers.

Program Identity & Fit

Harbor-UCLA is a four-year, county-based academic emergency medicine program in the LA County safety-net system, serving a high-acuity, underserved, majority limited-English-proficiency population within a Level 1 Trauma/STEMI center handling roughly 95,000 annual visits. The program's identity centers on social emergency medicine and structural health equity work (Food Pharmacy, MAT, Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program, medical-legal partnerships, language justice infrastructure) layered onto a rigorous academic core with protected teaching rounds, a 36-month didactic cycle, EMS/base-station training, and required scholarly projects. It has a 45-year track record producing national EM leaders (SAEM, ABEM, ACEP presidents) and offers fellowship pathways including EMS and Healthcare Administration/QI, reflecting a dual orientation toward academic leadership and operational/administrative medicine. The program values residents who combine high clinical volume tolerance and procedural independence with genuine commitment to underserved, immigrant, and marginalized patient populations and their social determinants of health.

Who it fits

An applicant whose ERAS narrative demonstrates sustained work with underserved, immigrant, or safety-net populations alongside strong clinical/procedural experience and an interest in either academic EM leadership or health-systems/administrative work will find this program's mission and trajectory a natural match.

Research intensity

Strong - research is required (scholarly project for every resident) and heavily institutionalized through named initiatives, NIH/NINDS-funded networks, and dedicated academic discovery time, though not universally central to every resident's identity.

Career orientation

Mixed - Academic Medicine, Fellowship

Important

The program explicitly prioritizes applicants historically underrepresented in medicine, first-generation college graduates, and those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and states a preference for candidates who demonstrate interest in advocacy, health equity, and social determinants of health work aligned with its mission.

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