Sacramento -- Students, legislative staff, the public and members of the press are invited to learn how UC medical students are delivering health care to the state's most medically underserved populations through the UC Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community.

As the state's population becomes more and more diverse, increasing numbers of Californians lack access to quality health care, resulting in a growing disparity between well-served and underserved communities in California. The UC Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community, or PRIME-LC, is the first program of its kind in the nation and designed to address this critical shortage of quality health care for California's growing population of underserved, at-risk patients.

PRIME-LC combines medical-school training focused on Latino health issues with post-graduate work in environmental health, science and policy. Graduates will earn both a medical degree and master's degree. Although about 60 percent of the state's medical students are UC-trained, this term's eight PRIME-LC students represent the first increase in medical student enrollment at UC in close to 30 years.

As part of the University of California Center Sacramento first-year celebration and open house on Wednesday (Jan. 26), UC is hosting a panel discussion on this innovative new program with founding faculty and staff, along with a video-link presentation with PRIME-LC medical students at UC Irvine.


Where: UC Sacramento Center, 1130 K St., lower level, Sacramento

When: Wednesday, Jan. 26, 3:30 - 4:45 p.m.

What: A panel discussion with faculty, staff, medical students and UC President Robert C. Dynes

Speakers:

- Dr. Michael Drake, vice president for health affairs, University of California

- Dr. Alberto Manetta, senior associate dean for curricular affairs, UC Irvine

- PRIME-LC UC Irvine medical students via video presentation


If you are a member of the press and would like more information or to attend this event, please contact Abby Lunardini at the numbers above.

For more information on PRIME-LC, visit:

www.ucihs.uci.edu/primelc

For more on the University of California Center Sacramento, visit:

http://uccs.universityofcalifornia.edu

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