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School of Medicine School of Medicine
  1. School of Medicine
  2. Education
  3. MD & Combined Programs
  4. PRIME
  5. Health Equity
  6. Curriculum PRIME-HEq

PRIME-HEq Curriculum

PRIME-HEq offers an enhanced medical school curriculum that includes coursework emphasizing leadership, justice-centered advocacy, and service, where reducing equity gaps in medicine is the primary aim of the curriculum. Each program has a dedicated area of focus, targeted student recruitment, supplemental criteria for admission, relevant curricular content, and dedicated faculty mentorship. See core medical school curriculum.

PRIME Electives, Service-Learning & Master's Degree

Electives Influences on Health: From Genes to Communities (SOMI 233)

Family, community and cultural influences on health as well as new efforts to tailor diagnosis and treatment based on genetic variation will be presented. Health care systems and their effects on health equity will be discussed. Family, community and cultural influences on health as well as new efforts to tailor diagnosis and treatment based on genetic variation will be presented. Health care systems and their effects on health equity will be discussed.

Beyond the Bench and Bedside: Partnering with Communities (SOMI 234)

This course is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills to partner with communities to develop, conduct and evaluate community-based research, and design and conduct program evaluations of community programs. This course is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills to partner with communities to develop, conduct and evaluate community-based research, and design and conduct program evaluations of community programs. 

Co-curricular & Service-learning Opportunities

PRIME-HEq students are given the opportunity to enhance their cultural competency and knowledge of traditionally underserved communities through excursions, performances, and presentations, including program-sponsored community tours, theatrical productions, and conferences. The following list provides examples of program-sponsored activities:

  • Community Engagement Days: The Cultural Immersion Days of planned learning occur in communities where culturally diverse people reside. During cultural immersion days, ethnic foods, stories, and music contribute to learning about the children, families, and the assets and needs of that community. Learning during cultural immersion days focuses on themes such as cross cultural communication, understanding the needs of specific communities, affects of immigration, level of acculturation, religion, and health beliefs on a patient's decision making, and increasing the appreciation of the numerous cultures and communities in San Diego. The immersion day is taught by a Transcultural nurse (Teresa Cooper) and Community Pediatrics staff (Frank Silva, MPH; Ashley Maier, MSW).PRIME-HEq students are toured through the Mid-City or Logan Heights areas of San Diego County. 
  • Healthy Minds, Healthy Bodies
  • DOC-4-A-Day Educational Outreach

Master's Degrees Opportunities

The PRIME-HEq curriculum includes one year dedicated solely to a master's program of the student's choice — this takes typically place between the 3rd and 4th year of medical school. Some of the most popular disciplines include the master's program in Public Health (MPH), the master's program in Business Administration (MBA), the master's program in Public Policy (MPP) and the master's program in Urban Planning (MS).

PRIME-HEq students are given the opportunity to enhance their cultural competency and knowledge of traditionally underserved communities through excursions, performances, and presentations, including program-sponsored community tours, theatrical productions, and conferences.

Here are examples of program-sponsored activities:

  • Master's in Public Health: A PRIME-HEq student interested in moving to a community to provide care in a community health center might be interested in obtaining a Master's in Public Health in order to best match the services of the health center to the community's needs.
  • Master's in Business Administration: A PRIME-HEq student interested in returning to their hometown where no physician practices might be interested in obtaining a Master's in Business Administration in order to help make the financial case for opening a new medical office.
  • Master's in Public Policy: A PRIME-HEq student interested in making an impact beyond the community in which they practice might be interested in obtaining a Master's in Public Policy in order to work more effectively with elected leaders to affect policy change to meet the needs of her patients as well as others.

Students are encouraged to pursue a degree in any program that will help them further their career as they work to reduce inequity with the underserved. Students are not limited to degrees offered through UC San Diego. However, the master's degree must be completed within one year. Several alumni have completed master's degrees at many prestigious institutions such as John Hopkins, Yale, University of Chicago, and Harvard.