Community Health Fellowship
The Harbor-UCLA Department of Family Medicine Community Health Fellowship aims to prepare the next generation of physicians for a career in service and advocacy work in partnership with underserved communities as a life-long choice. This non-ACGME accredited Fellowship offers the tools to not only care for the most vulnerable and disenfranchised in our communities, but also to accompany them in their quest for health equity.
The Fellowship is founded on the values of;
- Accompaniment,
- Humility,
- Health Equity,
- and the principle of Health as a Human Right among others.
For additional information, please contact Dr. Jyoti Puvvula, Community Health Fellowship Director, at jpuvvula@dhs.lacounty.gov
2023-2024 Fellow

Residency: Thomas Jefferson University
MD: University of Connecticut School of Medicine
BA: Boston University
Hometown: Simsbury, CT
I found out I would be moving to Los Angeles after my partner matched here for his own residency. I knew nothing about the city, and had barely been to the West Coast — getting him settled into his apartment was my first trip to the city. When I started looking for my own position post-residency, searching “environmental public health” and “family medicine” across an entirely new geographic landscape, Harbor-UCLA came up immediately and often. I met the residents and faculty at the AAFP conference in Kansas City, and knew immediately — from how they spoke about their patients, their love of the program, and their commitment to pursuing health justice in all its forms — that I would feel just as at home here as I had in my own residency. During my fellowship year, I hope to work alongside communities to fight for environmental justice as a form of public health, with a focus on oil refining and extraction, lead exposure through outdated infrastructure, and disproportionate exposure to poor urban air and water quality in Los Angeles. I feel so blessed to have found my true perfect match in a fellowship with a similar holistic view of medicine and prioritization of health equity.
Professional Interests: full-spectrum primary care, environmental public health, health policy
Languages: English, conversational Spanish (we’re a bit rusty)
Who/What inspires me: In what seemed like a cosmic fluke, I managed to match with some of the most inspiring co-residents while at Jeff, each with their own pursuits aimed at acknowledging and improving the situations of their patients. I am always in awe of physicians stepping outside their comfort zones to speak out on issues so critical to patient health, but rarely taught in medical school. I aspire to use my voice as an advocate in all spaces, as they do.
Favorite places in LA: Elysian Park (my second home already!), Hollywood Reservoir