FRESNO - Nine students who are part of the UC Irvine Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community (PRIME-LC) will arrive in Fresno on Sunday, July 19, 2009, to participate in a rural health and health policy curriculum in conjunction with the Office of Undergraduate Medical Education at UCSF Fresno.
With a Latino population of 48.2 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Fresno County is an ideal location for PRIME-LC students to gain better understanding of and hands-on experience in responding to the healthcare needs of California’s fastest growing population.
The students will spend one week (July 20 – 24) in the Valley engaging in the following learning opportunities:
- Attend clinics in Parlier where they will work with rural and migrant patients
- Assess living conditions of migrant farm workers in Fresno County
- Participate in mentoring activities at the UCSF Fresno Sunnyside High School Doctors Academy
- Learn about future training opportunities in rural and underserved health care at UCSF Fresno
In addition, the PRIME-LC students will learn about Fresno County’s public health issues from County Health Officer Edward Moreno, MD. Discussions with John Capitman, PhD, director of the Central Valley Health Policy Institute, also will inform students about health disparities and health challenges in the Central Valley. Students will visit key health advocate centers to further their education about the Valley’s health needs.
Classes will be held at the UCSF Fresno Center for Medical Education and Research and in various community locations.
While in Fresno, one group of students will reside at UCSF Fresno student housing. Others will stay with families in Parlier and Reedley.
The UCSF Fresno and UC Irvine partnership is a new initiative conceived and developed by Adriana Padilla, MD, associate clinical professor in family medicine at UCSF Fresno, to educate medical students about a key part of California’s Latino community.
For more information, please contact:
- Adriana Padilla, MD, lead program director, at [email protected]
- Charles Vega, MD, director of UC Irvine PRIME-LC at [email protected]
- Jose Rea, co-director of UC Irvine PRIME-LC at (949) 824-1141 or [email protected]
- Kasan Jones, program manager, UCSF Fresno Office of Undergraduate Medical Education at (559) 499-6523 or at [email protected]
Background:
PRIME-LC is one of the signature programs at the UC Irvine School of Medicine and a national model for meeting the health care needs of the growing Latino population. In response to an increasing need for highly qualified, culturally sensitive and linguistically competent physician-leaders, PRIME-LC graduates will impact health care access and outcomes in the local communities they serve as Latinos become the largest population group in California.
