Space MED Program Program Overview Curriculum & Training How to Apply Leadership Contact Us Space MED Program UC Irvine's Space MED program is the first mission-based space medicine program in the nation. Home Education Medical Education Space MED Program Expanding Space Medicine Training UC Irvine Space MED (Medicine, Engineering & Design) is a four-year, mission-based medical school program in which medical students are taught principles of space medicine, aerospace engineering, systems engineering, biomedical engineering and human systems integration throughout their medical school training. The program combines didactic and experiential learning experiences to provide medical students with the strongest possible foundation in space medicine and prepares them for future clinical and research opportunities. Program Overview Curriculum & Training How to Apply Contact Us Meet the Program Directors Our program directors are clinical professors and practicing physicians, who also work in the space industry. They leverage their clinical and research expertise to diversify and advance space medicine. Program Leadership "Becoming interplanetary starts with rockets and rovers but ends with people. To thrive beyond Earth, we must train physicians who dare to care where no one has cared before." -— Ariana Nelson, MD, Space MED Program Co-Director News Oct 22, 2025 | The Anteater Alumni Magazine Medicine Meets Micro-gravity Features & Briefs Space MED Medical Education UCI School of Medicine Obstetrics & Gynecology Anesthesiology & Perioperative Care Sep 18, 2025 | UC Irvine Health Affairs UC Irvine Pioneers Space Medicine Education Features & Briefs Space MED UCI School of Medicine Obstetrics & Gynecology Anesthesiology & Perioperative Care Education Medical Education May 27, 2025 | UC Irvine School of Medicine Mission to Explore Space Medicine: COSMOS Rotation Takes Students to New Heights Features & Briefs UCI School of Medicine Anesthesiology & Perioperative Care Obstetrics & Gynecology Medical Education Space MED View All News Hero Image: Vast / "Introducing Vast: The Next Giant Leap" Program Overview Image: Vast / "Haven-1 Final Design"