Central Valley colleges unite for new medical school. Will it fix our doctor shortage?

Aspiring doctors will soon be able to attend medical school at UC Merced, something state legislators and local health officials have fought for since the school opened 15 years ago.

“Earlier this year, I said that a UC medical school in the Valley should be the legacy of this pandemic, not one of its victims,” Assemblymember Adam Gray, D-Merced, said in a statement. “Today (Monday), that legacy became a reality.”

The 2020 state budget that was passed Monday sets aside $15 million per year to support a medical school for UC Merced and UCSF Fresno. The two schools are partnering.

During the first two years of medical school, students will be on UC Merced’s campus learning in classrooms and labs, said Adam Capper, legislative director for Gray’s office. The next two years, students will be at UCSF Fresno during the clinical part of their education.

It’s unclear when UC Merced will begin accepting medical students.

“The value of this distributive model is utilizing existing infrastructure (at UCSF Fresno),” Capper told The Bee.

UCSF Fresno already has an established medical school that more Valley students can utilize soon, Capper added, rather than waiting for a new medical school to be built.

Although it’s possible UC Merced could build a medical school once enrollment is up, he said.

The San Joaquin Valley has struggled for decades to attract more doctors to the region, and the physician-to-patient ratio is well below what medical experts say is needed. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, doctor shortages in Valley towns became an even more significant problem.

“We know the best way to address the Valley’s shortage of medical providers is to recruit local students, train them close to home, and match them with local residencies,” Gray said. “If we check all three of those boxes, they are nearly guaranteed to stay and practice medicine in the Valley.”

After students are finished with medical school, the goal is to place them in residencies around The San Joaquin Valley, Capper said.

“Just as UC Merced has redefined who can go to college by enrolling more first-generation college students than any other campus in the UC system, this medical school will redefine who can be a doctor,” Gray said. “It makes medical school a more realistic option for the thousands of Valley students who are qualified to become doctors but who cannot afford to move to places like San Francisco, Los Angeles, or Orange County.”

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab on our website.

This story was originally published June 15, 2020 at 7:28 PM with the headline "Central Valley colleges unite for new medical school. Will it fix our doctor shortage?."