IN MEMORIAM

Lacey E. Wyatt

Professor of Family Medicine

UC Los Angeles

1968 - 2014

Dr. Wyatt died on January 3, 2014 at the age of 43 years after a courageous battle with cancer.

 

A graduate of Howard University and the UCLA School of Medicine Class of 1994, Dr. Wyatt completed residency training in Family Medicine at Long Beach Memorial Hospital, followed by a fellowship in Child and Family Health, a residency in Preventive Medicine, and a Master’s Degree in Community Health Sciences at the UCLA School of Public Health. She joined the faculty of the Department of Family Medicine in 1999 and rose to the rank of Associate Clinical Professor.

 

To students and faculty who had the pleasure of working with her, Dr. Wyatt was a remarkably gifted and dedicated educator in our School. In graduate medical education, she served as Associate Director of the UCLA Family Medicine Residency program. Dr. Wyatt had many leadership roles in undergraduate education, serving as Chair of Doctoring I, of the Family Medicine Clerkship, and of the Year I Preceptorship, as well as a mentor in the Primary Care College and Site Director of the Mid Valley Comprehensive Health Center. Dr. Wyatt was honored for her teaching with the UCLA Department of Family Medicine Faculty Teaching Award in 2010 and the DGSOM Excellence in Education Award for 2013.

 

Dr. Wyatt also was a pioneer in exploring and identifying innovations to improve care of underserved populations. She served as founding Medical Director of the teaching Family Medicine Clinic at the Mid Valley Comprehensive Health Center in Van Nuys. She was the recipient of several competitive research awards dedicated to care of underserved populations. In May 2013, Dr. Wyatt and a colleague completed a project that was among four selected from more than 260 submissions to receive the LA County-Department of Health Services Luminary Award recognizing innovation that leads to overall improvement in DHS operations.

 

Dr. Wyatt is survived by her parents Drs. Lewis Wyatt, Jr. and Gail Wyatt, daughter Kamile, brother Dr. Lance Wyatt, sister-in-law Denise, niece Mureya, and other family members and devoted friends. In a medical career that was all too brief, Lacey Wyatt touched the lives of countless patients, students, faculty, and staff. They and we are all the richer for having known her, and her loss is deeply felt.

A. Eugene Washington, M.D., M.Sc.