LMU welcomed Dr. Zarin Tejani as medical director, who oversees both Student Health Services (SHS) and Student Psychological Services (SPS) in April of this year. She brings nearly 15 years of clinical experience in outpatient and inpatient health care for young adults and children, most recently serving local young patients at the Venice Family Clinic for the past seven years. She is passionate about health equity and social justice and believes in caring for the whole person to promote resilience, healing, and holistic wellness.
As LMU’s medical director, Tejani is providing critical experience and knowledge, and is helping the campus community support student health and well-being. Her role is integral to our mission of educating the whole person and keeping our students mentally and physically healthy so that they can succeed during their time at LMU. “My passion for working with students started with my time as a teacher with Teach For America before medical school,” said Tejani. “Working at LMU has allowed me to work in a role that brings together all of my skill sets, and it feels like a real privilege to work in a higher education setting. I have always approached my patient care by centering around the whole person. Understanding how school is going, how is your home life, how is your mental health, even if you’re just seeing me for a rash, allows me to provide the highest quality care and uncover root causes of illnesses.”
Tejani is a Southern California native from Long Beach, her family is originally from India, and she also speaks Spanish fluently. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Afterward, she taught for two years as a Teach For America corps member, earning an M.D. at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. She completed her residency and served another year as a chief resident with the UCLA Pediatrics Residency Program.
Beyond her clinical experience, Tejani completed a fellowship in primary care psychiatry; co-wrote a health impact assessment about a local airport, led successful, clinic-wide quality improvement projects in depression screening and HPV vaccination rates; worked with multi-disciplinary teams to provide family-centered developmental and medical interventions; participated in trauma-informed care training; and facilitated anti-racism training and discussions with clinic staff.
At LMU, she works directly with SHS Director Katie Arce, M.P.H., M.S.N., F.N.P.-B.C., C.D.E., and SPS Director Kristin Linden, Ph.D., as a team, ensuring students can thrive. As Tejani oversees these areas together now, she’s also excited to build on the ways SPS and SHS already work together to integrate support for students with both physical and mental health. “All of our work is confidential with students. In some cases, it can be helpful and students may give us written permission to collaborate so both teams can work together to help the student navigate and advocate to find the right path,” said Tejani. “The mind and body are not separate; when we support students healing in comprehensive ways, that creates a chance to empower that person and amplify their voice and their needs.
“Both SHS and SPS have staff with so much clinical experience; the decades of leadership, the expertise of the clinical and support teams in both departments are incredibly valuable to the university’s goal of a thriving student body. SHS and SPS see students as our number one priority; we are here to serve you,” said Tejani. “In both environments, staff have chosen to work in the higher education environment because they love working with and helping our students during this time in their lives.”
Tejani is also serving on the Student Affairs Student Mental Health and Well-Being Strategic Planning Committee, where a diverse group will focus on goals around helping the LMU community enrich the resources on campus for students’ mental health and well-being needs. “Working as a collective, This work will help better inform Student Affairs and the two departments on how to continually create positive change and impact on the needs of students moving forward so that all LMU students can thrive during their time here.”