Melody Tran-Reina, M.D.

Associate Dean of Workforce Pathways and Collaboratives

Melody Tran-Reina, M.D., is the Associate Dean of Workforce Pathways and Collaboratives at UC Davis School of Medicine, where she oversees multiple physician workforce pathway programs — collectively known as the Community Health Scholars and 3-year Accelerated Programs — as well as the California Oregon Medical Education and Training (COMET) Collaborative. Together, these programs represent UC Davis's institutional commitment to training physicians who will serve rural, underserved and tribal communities across California.

A UC Davis School of Medicine alumna and graduate of the TEACH-MS program she now leads, Tran-Reina brings a rare dual perspective to her work: she has walked the pathway she now builds for others. She continues to maintain an active clinical primary care practice at the Sacramento County Health Center, grounding her strategic leadership in the day-to-day realities of primary care in underserved settings.

Tran-Reina is the Founding Co-Director of the COMET Collaborative, a cross-sector initiative spanning California and Oregon that brings together more than 50 partner organizations around a shared goal: building sustainable physician workforce pathways for the communities that need them most.

COMET grew out of COMPADRE, an American Medical Association Reimagining Residency-funded initiative, and reflects Tran-Reina's philosophy that effective workforce development means recruiting from the community, training in the community and retaining physicians in the community they serve. She is currently expanding this work in partnership with UC Santa Cruz to launch PRIME Central Coast, bringing medical education to the Central Coast region.