SJV PRIME

Need for More Latino Doctors Highlighted at UC Merced Event

October 13, 2025

Dr. Michael Galvez speaks to students at UC Merced about National Latino Physician Day.

In the United States, 20 percent of the population is Latino. By 2050, it’s expected that one in three people will identify as Latino. But less than 7 percent of doctors come from a similar background. Dr. Michael Galvez, a board-certified pediatric hand surgeon at Valley Children’s...

Ten students in entering SJV PRIME class pose in front of a conference room at the University of California, Merced.

New PRIME Cohort Aims to Bridge Valley’s Health Divide

Established in 2011, the San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education (SJV PRIME) pools resources from UC Merced, the UC Davis School of Medicine, and UCSF Fresno to recruit and train future...

Medical Students Reach Out to Create a Healthier Valley

Six medical students, all with ties to the San Joaquin Valley, are spending part of their summer reaching out and giving back to the community they call home. The students are taking part in a four-...

Student Volunteers Work With Local Emergency Department

In Fall 2007, Maricela Rangel-Garcia became one of the first UC Merced students to sign up for a new, non-clinical volunteer program in the busy Mercy Medical Center Emergency Department (ED). Her...

UC Merced San Joaquin Valley PRIME Announces Third Class of Students

Six students with close ties to the San Joaquin Valley are on track to becoming physicians as part of the UC Merced San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education (PRIME). The group, which began...

UC Merced Caps Successful Year with an Eye on the Future

MERCED, Calif. — Though UC Merced looked back this year to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the campus’s groundbreaking, signs of what the future will hold continue to come into focus. Those signs...

UC Merced San Joaquin Valley-PRIME Announces Second Class of Students

Six students, all with ties to the San Joaquin Valley, have been admitted to the UC Merced San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education (PRIME). The students have begun their first year of medical...

First Year of Medical Education Celebrated as Campus Grows Health Research Programs

The inaugural group of students in the UC Merced San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education said their first year was challenging, but filled with reminders of why they want to serve their ...

Impact: Medical Education Program to Serve Valley

</p> <p>Fourth-generation San Joaquin Valley resident Kelly Fujikawa always planned to practice medicine in the San Joaquin Valley.</p> <p>The...

UC Merced, UC Davis Announce First Class of Medical Students in UC Merced San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education

The University of California, Merced, and UC Davis School of Medicine announced today the first cohort of students who are expected to enroll this fall in the UC Merced San Joaquin Valley Program in...