When admitted to the hospital, you are under the care of a UC San Diego Health hospital care team.
This team includes physicians, nurses, case managers, social workers and other health care professionals who are trained to provide you with the highest quality of care.
UC San Diego Health is an academic medical center and teaching hospital. During your stay, you may be treated by a team of doctors including attending physicians, residents, fellows, and interns. Medical students may also assist the team.
Based on their training and function within the team, these physicians will be referred to as the following:
Attending Physician
A board certified physician who is responsible for your plan of care and leads your hospital care team by overseeing the residents, and medical students.
Hospitalist
A type of attending physician who works only in the hospital setting, taking care of hospital inpatients. Hospitalists at UC San Diego Health are board certified internal medicine physicians.
Resident or Fellow
Physicians in training who have received their medical degrees and have selected a medical specialty to pursue.
Intern
First year resident physicians
Medical Students
May be involved in your care as part of their preparation to become doctors but will only work under the supervision of the attending physician.
Clinical Pharmacist
Clinical pharmacists contribute to your care by helping your physicians and nurses use medicines safely and effectively. They provide your care team with therapeutic drug monitoring (measuring amounts of certain medications in your body), intravenous nutrition support and participation in patient care rounds.
It is normal for your hospital care team to change and to have many doctors treating you. Even the attending physician may change during your stay.
As new doctors join the team, they will introduce themselves. Although your doctors may change, the high quality of your care will remain the same.
Our nurses go above and beyond what is expected to take care of their patients. They willingly advocate for your needs. The skill, care and compassion of our nurses can be seen the minute you enter the hospital until the moment you leave.