Brian Y. Kim

Clinical Professor, Family Medicine
School of Medicine

Sports nutrition, iron deficiency in athletes, medical student education, resident education, musculoskeletal medicine, female athlete triad, bone stress injury, sports medicine

Best NCAA Research - AMSSM Annual Meeting 2026
OCMA Physician of Excellence
Resident Scholarship Award - American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM)

Dr. Brian Y. Kim is a board-certified family medicine and sports medicine physician and Clinical Professor at the UC Irvine School of Medicine. He serves as Program Director of the UCI Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship and Head Team Physician for UC Irvine Athletics. His clinical practice focuses on the care of active individuals and athletes of all ages, with particular interests in overuse injuries, bone health, sports nutrition, runners, youth athletes, and female athletes.

Dr. Kim earned his medical degree at UC Irvine and completed his family medicine residency and primary care sports medicine fellowship at UCLA. He also holds a master’s degree in nutrition science from Columbia University, with an emphasis in sports nutrition. His academic and research interests include iron deficiency in athletes, bone stress injuries, relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S), sports nutrition, musculoskeletal ultrasound, and medical education.

Dr. Kim has cared for athletes across a wide range of sports and levels of competition, from youth and recreational athletes to NCAA and Olympic-level athletes. He previously served as an on-site physician at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and remains actively involved in team physician coverage, sports medicine education, and the training of medical students, residents, and fellows. He believes strongly in the principle that exercise is medicine and aims to help patients remain active, healthy, and engaged in the activities that matter to them.

Hoang P, Deppe M, Alvarez B, Klaes AA, Billimek J, Kim BY. Exploring the impact of sleep extension on performance and heart rate variability among competitive esports athletes. Sci Rep 15, 32729 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-18228-y [PMID: 40993186]

Davis K, Frank A, Alcala-Arcos T, Godenzi C, Allison M, Riggle C, Sakaria S, Nelson A, Wray A, Kim BY. A comprehensive and modality diverse cervical spine and back musculoskeletal physical exam curriculum for medical students. Journal of Education & Teaching Emergency Medicine. 2025. 10(3):SG1-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21980/J8RQ0N [PMID: 40766941]

Xu J, Billimek J, Kim BY. Orthopedic Injections: A Longitudinal Musculoskeletal Curriculum in a Family Medicine Residency. Fam Med. 2024 Oct;56(9):579-583. doi: 10.22454/FamMed.2024.687020. Epub 2024 Aug 19 [PMID: 39207789]

Burger S, Bray A, Kim BY. The relationship between nutrition knowledge and low energy availability risk in collegiate athletes. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. 2024; available online 11 Apr 2024. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsams.2024.03.010 [PMID: 38664149]

Fredericson M, Roche M, Barrack MT, Tenforde A, Sainani K, Kraus E, Kussman A, Olson EM, Kim BY, Fahy K, Miller E, Diamond E, Meraz S, Singh S, Nattiv A. Healthy Runner Project: a 7-year, multisite nutrition education intervention to reduce bone stress injury incidence in collegiate distance runners. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine. 2023;9:e001545. DOI: 10.1136/bmjsem-2023-001545 [PMID: 37180969; PMCID: PMC10174024]

McLellan M, Heffernan C, Xu J, Billimek J, Kim BY. Mental Health and Substance Use in NCAA Athletes in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Lockdown. Cureus. 2022 Oct 2;14(10):e29836. doi: 10.7759/cureus.29836 [PMID: 36337773; PMCID: PMC9625076.]

Heffernan C, McLellan M, Xu J, Billimek J, Kim BY. A Cross-Sectional Study of the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Lockdown Orders on Injury Prevalence in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Athletes. Cureus 15(4): e38296. doi:10.7759/cureus.38296 [PMID: 37261142; PMCID: PMC10226822]

Barrack M, Fredericson M, Dizon F, Tenforde AS, Kim BY, Kraus E, Kussman A, Singh S, Nattiv A. Dietary supplement use according to sex and triad risk factors in collegiate endurance runners. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 35(2): 404-10, 2021. DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003848. [PMID: 33278271]

Kraus E, Tenforde AS, Nattiv A, Sainani K, Kussman A, Deakins-Roche M, Singh S, Kim BY, Barrack M, Fredericon M. Bone stress injuries in male distance runners: higher modified female athlete triad cumulative risk assessment scores predict increased rates of injury. British Journal of Sports Medicine. Epub ahead of print: 22 Dec 2018. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2018-099861

Kim BY, Vigil DV. A review of injury patterns in athletes competing in combined competitions: heptathlon and decathlon. Current Sports Medicine Reports. 15(6): 433-6, 2016. [PMID: 27841816]

Kim BY, Nattiv A. Health considerations in the female runner. Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Clinics of North America. 27(1): 151-78, 2016.

Green G, Kim BY. Regarding sudden cardiac death in soccer players. Physician and Sportsmedicine. 43(2): 114-115, 2015.

Kim BY, Dave R, Tabibiazar R. Aortic Valve Stenosis in a Middle-Age Athlete. Proceedings of UCLA Healthcare. Vol. 15, 2011.

Kim BY, Dolins KR. Analyzing the dietary intake of competitive young tennis players: does nutritional counseling make a difference? Journal of Medicine and Science in Tennis. 14(1): 9-14, 2009.

American Academy of Family Physicians

American Medical Society for Sports Medicine

Female and Male Athlete Triad Coalition

Family Medicine Residency
UCLA 2011—2014

Fellowship, Sports Medicine
UCLA 2014—2016

Link to this profile
https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=6276

Last updated
09/16/2026