“Growing up in the San Joaquin Valley, I saw both the strength of the people and the deep health care needs of the region. Those experiences inspired me to pursue medicine in the first place.”
UCSF School of Medicine student Audrey T. Garcia-Lahrs, MS, MPH, is one of 12 students in the 2024 matriculating class of the UCSF San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education (SJV PRIME).
She spent 18 months in San Francisco, completing her pre-clinical training, which included lectures and small-group discussions where students applied concepts through patient cases and reinforced core material.
“I had the opportunity to participate in weekly quality improvement work at San Francisco General Hospital, which was especially meaningful since it was my first exposure to QI,” Garcia-Lahrs said. “It gave me practical skills I hope to use to strengthen and improve health systems back home.”
That home is the San Joaquin Valley, where she is continuing her journey to becoming a physician. In January 2026, she began her core rotations at UCSF Fresno. Having grown up in Porterville, California, she once saw Fresno as a big city and is now excited to call it home.
“I’m excited to explore more of the nearby national parks and spend time outdoors whenever I can. I truly loved my time in San Francisco, but there’s something incredibly grounding and meaningful about being back in the Valley, close to my roots and the community that shaped me,” she said.
SJV PRIME is a specialized track at the UCSF School of Medicine designed for students dedicated to improving health and health care delivery in the San Joaquin Valley.
“Audrey Garcia-Lahrs has brought to bear the training from her master's degree to her work in the community on a project empowering Filipino Americans for a healthy future against type 2 diabetes,” said Loren Alving, MD, director of SJV PRIME and director of the UCSF Fresno Alzheimer and Memory Center.
Garcia-Lahrs’ father worked as a family physician at a local federally qualified health center— an experience that deeply shaped her understanding of medicine from an early age. She also experienced her own health challenges as a child, traveling nearly two hours to see a pediatric specialist at Valley Children's Hospital. Together, those experiences made her acutely aware of disparities in access to care in her community.
“Witnessing both my father’s commitment to his patients and my own family’s challenges in accessing specialty care instilled in me a strong desire to be part of the solution,” she said. “I was drawn to medicine not only for its scientific and clinical challenges, but for its profound ability to serve individuals and strengthen entire communities.”
SJV PRIME offers medical students a unique opportunity to complete clinical training in the San Joaquin Valley while working closely with its diverse communities. Through partnership between UCSF and UCSF Fresno, the program prepares future physician leaders who can advance health care across the region.
To date, 39 UCSF SJV PRIME students have completed their training at UCSF Fresno. Most have matched into residency programs in California, while others have entered specialized programs across the country.
As the program’s fourth class prepares to graduate, leaders continue refining and strengthening the curriculum. Alving said student feedback remains central, alongside close collaboration with UCSF, University of California, Merced, and community partners.
In 2023, SJV PRIME+, an eight-year BS to MD pathway was established through partnership among UCSF, UC Merced and UCSF Fresno. Students enter as freshmen at UC Merced and complete a Bachelor of Science degree before continuing to medical training.
“Along the way, we have welcomed new students and new faculty across all campuses who are involved in the program,” Alving said. “As we transition our pre-clerkship instruction from the San Francisco campus to the Merced campus in 2027 as part of SJV PRIME+, the ties between all three campuses grow stronger and more collaborative. We look forward to an effective collaboration resulting in a robust and expanding program."
Built on the foundation of SJV PRIME, SJV PRIME+ advances a shared goal: training physicians from the Valley, in the Valley, for the Valley. Together, the programs are preparing a new generation of physicians who understand the region’s unique health challenges because they come from the communities they serve.
On May 5, 2026, all the current SJV PRIME classes will be at UCSF Fresno for a PRIME Day reception.
For more information, click here.
