Michele L. Ritter, MD, is a board-certified infectious disease specialist who cares for patients with severe or deep-seated infections. She is director of UC San Diego Health’s outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT) program, which allows patients to avoid hospitalization for serious infections by receiving intravenous (IV) antimicrobial therapies in an outpatient setting, including at-home care.

She also leads the COVID-19 Telemedicine Clinic for patients recovering at home.

Her patients often have post-surgical infections, orthopedic (bone or joint) infections or cellulitis, including those caused by multi-drug resistant bacteria, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Her research examines infection prevention in different clinical contexts, such as surgery, as well as antimicrobial stewardship to preserve the efficacy of antibiotic therapies.

Prior to joining UC San Diego Health in 2010, Dr. Ritter was an infectious disease specialist at Virginia Hospital Center and was part of the clinical faculty in infectious disease at Georgetown University School of Medicine.

She completed a fellowship in infectious disease at Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, New York. She completed a residency in internal medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., where she also earned her medical degree. Dr. Ritter is board-certified in internal medicine and infectious disease.