Tessa Antalan, MD

Tessa Antalan, MD is a board-certified internal medicine doctor and geriatrician who specializes in caring for older adults. She provides primary care to patients ages 75 and over, with an emphasis on health maintenance, disease prevention, treatment of acute and chronic illnesses and preservation of function.

Dr. Antalan is passionate about cultivating long-term relationships with patients. She strives to meet older patients' complex needs and balance these with their preferences at this vulnerable stage in life.

Prior to joining UC San Diego Health, Dr. Antalan served as clinical faculty for a community-based residency program and as a geriatrician at skilled nursing facilities. Most recently she was a primary care internal medicine physician and geriatrician at Family Health Centers of San Diego, a federally qualified health center. Her academic interests include cultural competence, geriatric interdisciplinary care, deprescribing, clinical reasoning and medical education.

Dr. Antalan completed the VA-UCLA Multi-campus Fellowship Program in geriatric medicine. She completed her internal medicine residency at McLaren Flint Medical Center. A native of the Philippines, she earned her medical degree there from St. Luke's College of Medicine in Quezon City. Dr. Antalan is board certified in geriatric medicine and internal medicine.

Outside of work, she loves to travel with her husband and kids, watch Broadway musicals, and read science fiction and medical books. She is an adult piano learner and is also working on Spanish fluency.

UC San Diego Health Links
For more information on primary care for seniors, see Senior Medicine / Geriatrics.