The health system at UC San Diego Health comprises two large multi-facility medical campuses in the San Diego region, as well as other primary and specialty practices throughout Southern California.
Its world-class renowned physicians are recognized leaders in their professional societies, heading national organizations and committees dedicated to improving care and advancing knowledge about disease. They are prominently listed in publications such as America's Top Doctors and U.S. News & World Report.

UC San Diego Health is nationally ranked in 8 specialties by U.S. News & World Report in its well-known annual “Best Hospitals” issue. It has held the #1 ranking for the San Diego region for six consecutive years. Its School of Medicine is consistently ranked among the top research-intensive medical school programs. UC San Diego has also been ranked as one of the nation’s top 100 Hospitals and among the top 15 major teaching hospitals by Truven Health. Becker’s Hospital Review ranks UC San Diego Health among the 100 Great Hospitals in America. Additionally, Healthgrades has conferred its “Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence.”

Free of charge, UC San Diego Health’s International Program will work with you to:

• Find the right doctor
• Schedule appointments
• Help you understand your financial costs
• Assist with getting around the hospital and the city of San Diego
• Deal with any issues that come up before, during, and after your visit
• Provide documentation that helps expedite the medical visa request at your local US Embassy
• Coordinate care with your physician at home
• Help with local services (setting up a bank account, obtaining a local mobile phone, etc.)
• Assist with Travel & Accommodations
• Ground transportation (including pick-up from San Diego, Tijuana, and other regional airports)
• Translation or interpretation services (Arabic and many other languages on demand)

The ranked specialties of UC San Diego Health in U.S. News & World Report include Cancer; Cardiology and Heart Surgery; Geriatrics; Nephrology; Neurology & Neurosurgery; Orthopedics; Pulmonology and Urology. Additionally, the following programs are of particular interest to the international patients:

• PTE (pulmonary thromboendarterectomy) – UC San Diego Health invented this surgical procedure and continues to be the premier hospital internationally, having performed more of these procedures than the rest of the world combined and with the lowest mortality rate.
• Second Opinion Medical Consultations (UC San Diego Health supports your local physicians by confirming diagnoses or recommending alternative treatment options so that patients are presented all possible options for care)
• Telemedicine – UC San Diego Health has relationships with hospitals and clinics globally, through which it provides remote video telemedicine evaluations for patients
• Organ Transplants – Patients worldwide obtain needed organ transplants at UC San Diego Health’s facilities, a large proportion of those transplant patients coming from the Middle East.

Services for Arabic-speaking Patients and Referring Organizations

Patient experience is an important component of care at UC San Diego Health, and our International Patient Program is dedicated to providing quality care to its Arabic-speaking patients. We have implemented a number of services in order to improve the care and cultural understanding of our Arabic-speaking patients, including:

• In-person Arabic-speaking patient coordinators (half of our staff speak Arabic) working as primary points-of-contact
• Patient Experience Survey in Arabic
• Comprehensive Arabic-language Patient Guide

For more information, please visit:
www.health.ucsd.edu