Patrick Dowling

Patrick T. Dowling, M.D., M.P.H., is the Kaiser Permanente Endowed Professor of Community Medicine and Chair of the UCLA Department of Family Medicine. He holds dual degrees from the Medical College of Ohio (1974) and the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Dr. Dowling's career spans over four decades in family medicine, residency training, and health policy advocacy, with a focus on underserved populations. He has directed residency programs at Cook County Hospital, Brown University, and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center before leading UCLA's Family Medicine department since 1998.

His research emphasizes health policy, chronic disease management, cross-cultural medicine, and integrating substance abuse treatment into primary care. He co-founded UCLA's IMG pathway program to train bilingual (English-Spanish) international medical graduates for underserved areas. Dr. Dowling has advised the National Health Service Corps and LA County Public Health Commission, and currently serves on Drew University's Board of Trustees.

Publications highlight systemic barriers to healthcare access, physician practice location determinants, opioid epidemic responses, and community-based participatory research. His work bridges medical education innovation with socioeconomic health equity, reflecting lifelong commitment to universal healthcare access inspired by his early work with Cesar Chavez's United Farm Workers Clinics.