UC San Diego: Student Support, Academic Rigor, and Extensive Real-World Clinical Experience

We are continuing our new series, Media Day, where we spotlight individual medical institutions and infectious disease (ID) programs. Today, we spotlight UC San Diego’s Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and the university’s extensive research programs and community-based health programs to serve the local population.

Jacinda Abdul-Mutakabbir, PharmD, MPH, assistant professor of Clinical Pharmacy and antimicrobial resistance researcher at the University of California San Diego, has been studying the intersection of racism, antimicrobial resistance, and vaccine equity. She teaches a course on this emerging topic at the university, and her focus has been on creating community-based clinics within vulnerable areas of San Diego. In the last year they have created 4 clinics, which builds upon the clinics she developed in San Bernardino County—where she previously taught. In recent years she has published papers on this subject and her students at UC San Diego participate in care at these clinics.

“They provide screenings for preventable illnesses, because, like I talked about, prevention is the primary point, and we know that there's a gap when it comes to screenings, especially for areas that are more deprived,” Abdul-Muttakabbir said. “So we are working to bridge the noncommunicable diseases gap and to help individuals identify those elements, but more importantly, providing them education.”

Although she is now in the middle-level part of her career, Abdul-Mutakabbir talks about being a young academic getting recruited to UC San Diego and the support of her chair.

“I joined there as a junior professional. I remember even when it came time for my recruitment, when I was brought over to UCSD or encouraged to apply, my current chair, Dr. Linda Awdishu, she connected with me, and we really built a friendship. And it was from that friendship that she said, you know, I want to be able to support you. UCSD can really provide you the support that you need to succeed.”

This positive effect on the staff translates to its students.

“We welcome the students as colleagues very early on in their careers, and we support them…It's just such a great place to learn, such a great place to grow, and beautiful location,” she said.

This is the last in the UC San Diego series, to view other interviews from the series, go here.