Fourth Cohort of Students in UCSF SJV PRIME Start Classes
SJV PRIME matriculating class of 2022
UCSF and UCSF Fresno welcome the fourth cohort of the UCSF San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education (SJV PRIME). The 12 SJV PRIME students are beginning their medical education at a time when increasing the physician workforce is crucial to meeting the health care needs of the medically under resourced and fast-growing San Joaquin Valley – the region stretching roughly from Bakersfield to Stockton.
The Valley’s geographically dispersed and ethnically diverse population greatly outpaces the number of new physicians entering the workforce. With just 47 primary care physicians per 100,000 population, the region falls far short of the 60 to 80 primary care physicians recommended by the Council of Graduate Medical Education. The Valley is further shy of physicians who represent the communities and who are prepared to address the unique health needs of the region’s underserved populations. And this overall lack of access to medical care has never been more glaringly evident than in the past three years, during the pandemic.