About the Program
The San Joaquin Valley (SJV) PRIME+ program is a multi-campus baccalaureate/MD program designed to expand high-quality medical education in the San Joaquin Valley. Through a partnership between UCSF, its regional clinical campus UCSF Fresno, and UC Merced, the program will recruit, educate, and support future physicians to serve the communities of the San Joaquin Valley.
The program includes a four-year baccalaureate component, leading into the UCSF Doctor of Medicine curriculum. All elements of the program, offered through UC Merced and UCSF Fresno, focus on preparing a physician workforce to address communities' unmet health and health care needs in the San Joaquin Valley.
High school graduates accepted into the program will enter the eight-year program directly from high school, earning their baccalaureate degree at UC Merced and Doctor of Medicine through UCSF. The eight-year program will take place entirely in the San Joaquin Valley with the goal of increasing the likelihood that graduates enter residency programs in the region and remain locally to practice and care for Valley community members.
The San Joaquin Valley PRIME+ program will begin accepting applications in 2022 and will be seeking high school students committed to pursuing a career in medicine and dedicated to serving the unique needs of the San Joaquin Valley. Students will apply through one application process.
Partnership in Practice
UC Merced – Students in the SJV PRIME+ BS/MD program will receive their BS from the School of Natural Sciences and the first 1.5 years of medical training at UC Merced. UC Merced is #1 in the University of California system for undergraduate research and ranked 38th among public universities by USNWR. For more information about the Bachelor of Science programs visit UCMerced.edu.
UCSF/UCSF Fresno – Students in the SJV PRIME+ program will matriculate as students of the UCSF Medical School participating in our Bridges Curriculum. After completing their preclinical training at UC Merced, students will complete their clinical training at the UCSF Fresno campus in Fresno, California. UCSF Fresno has been training physicians in the San Joaquin Valley for over forty years and has been training medical students as part of the San Joaquin Valley PRIME program for the past twelve years.
