Kenneth Taeyong Kim, M.D.

Hello, my name is Kenneth Kim, and I was born and raised in the north San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, CA. I'm planning to apply into Emergency Medicine, as I love the mission of caring for all comers and enjoy the breadth that the specialty has to offer, and I'm interested in a career that finds a balance between clinical work, medical education, and health policy. For fun, I like to sing and play the guitar (and sometimes post covers of songs to my instagram @nepwah) and enjoy making drinks by hand (brewing coffee and mixing cocktails, usually not at the same time)!

Instagram: @nepwah

Why did you choose UCLA for Residency?

So many reasons! It's close to home; in the best city with the best food; full of hilarious, unique, and just all-around amazing attendings, residents, and staff; and it has world-class opportunities and learning in both clinical and extraclinical Emergency Medicine. It's got a great mix of patient populations, practice environments, and outside opportunities that make me confident I'll be able to not only get a job after residency, but also succeed in whatever environment calls me once I finish my training.

What is your favorite place to visit/thing(s) to do in/memory from living in LA? If you have never lived here before, what are you most excited about?

Consuming all the foods! The best times have been the late night trips with friends to Koreatown for Korean food or to Arts District for craft beers or to any random taco truck for delicious tacos!

What do you do in your free time? What hobbies do you have? 

Board games, Baking bagels, Super Smash Bros. Melee (GC) and Overwatch (PC), Singing/Guitar, Golf

What are your areas of interest within EM or future career plans? 

Health Policy, Medical Education, and Pediatric EM

Are you involved in any research or national EM committees etc? If so, what?

I was part of the EMRA Health Policy Committee, EMRA Medical Student Council, and the CalEMRA Medical Student Council in 2019-2021. Looking forward to continuing my organized medicine journey with support from the residency in the future!

Are there any projects or outside extracurricular you are working on?

I'm trying to learn Spanish, Korean, and Japanese in my spare time. Also trying to elbow my way into the new UCLA Medical School curriculum to tell everyone who will listen about the importance of Health Policy in medical school education.

Any hidden talent(s)?

I learned to beatbox in my college a cappella group, and I can cook a pretty mean ribeye steak

Who would you be if you could be any superhero?

I'd want to be Captain America, but I'd more realistically be Ant-Man

Where would we find you if not in the department (ie. couch, beach, wilderness, climbing, etc.)?

in bed