A UCSF Fresno health career pathways program and a UCSF assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the Fresno regional campus are being recognized for their contributions to the community by the Fresno Compact, a non-profit focused on community-wide efforts to prepare students for the increasing demands of society and the workplace.
The UCSF Fresno Office of Health Career Pathways (OHCP) and Kulraj Dhah, DO, a UCSF assistant clinical professor in UCSF Fresno’s Department of Family and Community Medicine, are 2025 Business-Education Partnership Award Winners.
The Fresno Compact is a community-driven roundtable founded in 1990 by local leaders committed to bridging the gap between education and workforce readiness. Each year, the organization recognizes up to 10 local businesses for partnerships with schools to improve the quality of education, promote community involvement, and help students succeed. The winners will be recognized at a luncheon at Fresno State on April 24. Up to 10 local businesses that have partnerships with schools to improve the quality of education, promote community involvement, and help students succeed. The winners will be recognized at a luncheon at Fresno State on April 24.
Marc Johnson, executive director of Fresno Compact, said both UCSF Fresno winners being recognized “are examples of what UCSF brings to our region and the benefits we are seeing because of who has come to our area. The caliber of individuals who have been added to our community and are benefitting and building our community is just one more huge benefit to Fresno and the region.”
OHCP is being recognized for one of its newest initiatives, Raices (Roots), in the San Joaquin Valley. Dr. Dhah, an Inspire Health Medical Group physician, is recognized for providing free sports physicals for high school athletes, volunteering as a physician on the sidelines at McLane High School football games and creating sports medicine clinics in Fresno for students.
“We are extremely grateful for the recognition by the Fresno Compact to recognize the amazing work our team does to provide services and offerings at a larger reach than we have ever before,” said Stephanie Huerta Alvarez, project lead for Raices and manager of OHCP.
OHCP’s Raices project shares best practices for health pathway programming and supports school districts in engaging with health industry sectors. It is funded by a Central San Joaquin Valley K-16 Collaborative (Fresno/Madera/Tulare/Kings County) grant through June 2026. UCSF Fresno was awarded the Raices grant in 2023. The part of the project that Fresno Compact is awarding provides technical support for local school districts to help develop more robust work-based learning and programming for K-12 health pathway programs.
The idea for Raices started within a workgroup in mid-2022 that identified that school districts were designing health pathway programs but were working in silos and lacked staffing to develop work-based learning opportunities with industry partners. With more than 25 years of experience developing K-16 health pathway programs to meet the demand for more health professionals in the San Joaquin Valley, such as the UCSF Fresno Doctors Academy, Junior Doctors Academy, and SJV MedBridge, UCSF Fresno accepted the role of Raices project lead and applied for funding. The project is in five school districts in Fresno, Madera, and Tulare counties, as well as at the UC Merced Center for Educational Partnerships.
OHCP was nominated for the Fresno Compact Award by Sanger Unified School District, one of the earliest partners who signed onto the project and integrated their students and staff into the middle, high, and adult school offerings.
“Our nominator, Sanger Unified, has been an exemplary partner. Their genuine interest in advocating for more development and investment in their pathway programs and partnerships is a big reason why we have seen a significant presence of their students in many UCSF Fresno offerings and other affiliated programs, said Huerta Alvarez.
The project has served over 300 learners and school district staff through conferences, career exposure and outreach, study trips, and other opportunities that expose learners to health professional careers. Grant funds cover all work-based learning opportunity costs, materials and supplies, outreach, transportation to events, meals, and registration fees, among other expenses.
The Fresno Compact Award for Dr. Dhah recognizes his commitment to improving health care accessibility for student-athletes in Fresno regardless of family insurance status. Brent Mar, Fresno Unified’s athletic manager, nominated Dr. Dhah for the award.
Dr. Dhah, a native of Fresno, played soccer, basketball, and baseball as a youth, and he seldom saw a doctor for sports injuries because his family could not afford insurance. Now, as a Family and Community Medicine physician with an emphasis on Sports Medicine, he is helping to provide affordable services for many young athletes. Dr. Dhah gives and coordinates free sports physicals for high school athletes each year. Students must have a sports physical to play. He volunteers as the physician on the sidelines at McLane High School football games.
Throughout the year, he provides care at three sports medicine clinics in Fresno that he helped to create for students, especially for those who have Medi-Cal, the state-federal insurance for people of low income. Many of Fresno's high school and college athletes have Medi-Cal as their insurance provider.
At the clinics, Dr. Dhah has gotten student-athletes diagnostic tests and X-rays and established treatment plans so they can safely play again. For athletes needing surgery, he helps arrange appointments with orthopedic surgeons. Third-year UCSF Fresno Family and Community Medicine residents rotate with Dr. Dhah and see patients at the clinics for their Orthopaedic/Sports Medicine month training block. Second-year residents also can choose the rotation as an elective. UCSF Fresno Pediatrics assigns second-year residents to rotate at the clinics as part of their adolescent rotation.
"The importance of community engagement, such as through the UCSF Fresno Sports Medicine Clinics, cannot be overstated,” Dr. Dhah said. “These clinics provide vital care, education, and support, empowering Fresno Unified high school students to lead healthier, active lives. I am truly honored to receive the Fresno Compact Award, which reflects the shared commitment from UCSF Fresno and Fresno Unified to enhancing the health of our community."
