Thomas McAfee, MD, Dean of Clinical Affairs

Thomas McAfee, MD, is dean of Clinical Affairs for UC San Diego Health Sciences. Additionally, Dr. McAfee provides leadership for UC San Diego Medical Group, an inpatient and outpatient physician practice, as well as for the advancement of the clinical enterprise vision. Dr. McAfee is responsible for ensuring that UC San Diego Health System’s clinical practice is achieving the highest standards of service, quality, safety, compliance and overall performance, and assures that clinical programs and activities are integrated with and support our clinical, research and academic missions. He is also president of UC San Diego Ambulatory Surgery Center.

Dr. McAfee was recruited in 2002 as UCSD Health Sciences’ first Physician-in-Chief. Previously, he served as executive vice president, chief medical officer and vice president of quality improvement for Brown & Toland Medical Group in San Francisco, vice president at UC-Stanford Health Care, and associate Chief Medical Officer at the University of California, San Francisco.

Dr. McAfee’s accomplishments at UC San Diego Health System include work to create a clinical culture of referral-based practice and patient-centered care. He has expanded primary care, and establishing four community-based satellite locations in San Diego County. He is an active member of key executive leadership committees at UCSD as well as nationally. He also chairs the Board of Governors for UC San Diego Faculty Practice and the UCSD Health System Executive Committee. Dr. McAfee chaired and played a key role in UC San Diego School of Medicine’s 40th Anniversary Clinical Excellence Symposium.

He completed his medical internship and residency at the Internal Medicine Program at Georgetown University Hospital and earned his medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine. Dr. McAfee also has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Pomona College in California, is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, and knows some French, Italian, and Arabic.