The American Medical Association (AMA) Foundation has awarded two Southern California physicians and California Medical Association (CMA) members its prestigious Excellence in Medicine award. The award winners are Erick A. Eiting, M.D., MPH, MMM, assistant professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine at Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California (USC), and Nikan H. Khatibi, D.O., a interventional pain fellow at Loma Linda University Medical Center.

Dr. Eiting is a member of the full-time faculty in emergency medicine in Los Angeles. He studied health policy and management prior to attending medical school and has an extensive background in advocacy. His training and early career have focused on improving care in safety net hospitals for socioeconomically disadvantaged populations.

He currently oversees the Inmate Care Services Project, a collaborative effort between the University of Southern California, the Los Angeles County (LAC) Department of Health Services and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. He also oversees all outpatient, inpatient and emergency care for correctional patients at LAC and USC Medical Center.

Dr. Khatibi is a tenacious advocate for physicians and patients. He has served on the CMA Board of Trustees and the Executive Leadership Team for the American Heart Association. He volunteers his time at the Orange County Rescue Mission’s Hurtt Medical Clinic. As the city planning commissioner, he helped develop a 400,0000square-foot Veterans Affairs Medical Clinic. Most recently, Dr. Khatibi served as the Statewide Chair for California’s GOP gubernatorial nominee Neel Kashkari’s Healthcare Coalition.

The 2015 awards celebration was held on June 5, in conjunction with the AMA Annual Meeting in Chicago.