The Chinese Medical Interest Group, formerly known as the Chinese Medicine Interest Group (CMIG), is focused on addressing a critical need in the medical education of the students at the David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM) at UCLA: effectively communicating and connecting with Chinese-speaking populations. Los Angeles is home to one of the largest populations of Mandarin-speaking patients in the United States, yet despite this, UCLA DGSOM does not have any formal opportunities to train future health professionals in medical Chinese. Our interest group has the following four main goals: 

• Language: Develop our communication skills with ethnic Chinese patients by learning how to speak native languages in an effective and culturally-appropriate manner 

• Culture/Research: Explore unique aspects of Chinese culture and perceptions, focusing on their influence on health and how this differs from Western culture, through physician interviews and research projects 

• Patient Care: Learn how to approach patients in a manner not taught in the classical curriculum at DGSOM through understanding the patients’ cultural backgrounds 

• Immersion: Connect medical students with immersive opportunities to learn and practice their Chinese communication skills and collaborate with community organizations to improve the health of ethnic Chinese patients as a whole