Los Angeles Harbor AHEC
LA Harbor AHEC is affiliated with the Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA 
Medical Center and housed in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. Its mission is to train dedicated, resourceful family physicians who can advocate for and partner with underserved populations to create healthy communities and reduce health disparities.
As a residency training program, it operates on the principle that healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Residents and faculty are committed not only to providing primary care to clinic patients but also to addressing the social, structural, and economic barriers that impact community health and quality of life.
The curriculum immerses residents in working alongside marginalized patients, whose challenges to primary care extend beyond financial limitations to include broader social determinants of health. Training occurs in real-world clinical settings where residents gain expertise in chronic care management, acute exacerbation treatment, procedural skills, and community-based participatory approaches tailored to community needs.
Our program recruits trainees passionate about primary care and health equity, equipping them to become skilled clinicians, community advocates, and partners. At least 50% of graduates pursue careers or further training in underserved practice settings.
Recognizing that cultivating committed health professionals begins long before residency, LA Harbor AHEC also offers programs for youth, pre-health, and health professions students at various stages of their education, fostering mentorship and early engagement in community health. Some of these programs include:
- Harbor-UCLA Summer Urban Health Fellowship: A multi-level pathways program connecting high school, undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, and health professions students with resident physicians through mentoring and community-based work.
- Health Equity and Social Justice Fellowship: A year-long program for post-undergraduate pre-health students offering didactics, clinical experiences, and scholarly projects in communities with poor health outcomes.
- AHEC Scholars Program: A longitudinal program for pre-health and health professions students combining didactics, clinical training, and community engagement to explore social and structural determinants of health.
- Clinical & Mentorship Opportunities: Programs for pre-health and health professions students to work with vulnerable populations, including high-risk youth, unhoused individuals, and immigrant communities.
Through our programs, we hope to mentor and inspire future generations of health professionals, at all levels of their educational journey, especially those who have been traditionally marginalized from the health professions, to become healers and lifelong social justice advocates committed to the underserved.
For more information, please contact:
Project Coordinator – Joselyne Camacho, JCamacho4@dhs.lacounty.gov
Center Director – Jyoti Puvvula MD, JPuvvula@dhs.lacounty.gov
Click here to view the Los Angeles Harbor AHEC Brochure.