Program Overview

University of California, Riverside School of Medicine

The University of California, Riverside School of Medicine offers a unique program designed to address the physician shortages in the Inland Empire region.

California Medicine Scholars Program

The California Medicine Scholars Program (CMSP) is a pathway program from community college to medical school, developed in response to California's lack of a comprehensive strategy to create a pathway from community college to medicine.

Program Overview

The program was launched by the Inland Empire Regional Hub for Healthcare Opportunity (RHHO), which brings together partners across Riverside and San Bernardino Counties to address the physician shortages in this region. The CMSP is a structured pathway that taps into local California Community Colleges to support and increase the numbers of physicians in Inland Southern California.

Program Components

• The program supports students by developing comprehensive individualized educational plans.
• The Inland Empire RHHO will supplement existing services and resources in the region to provide:
  • Academic advising
  • Transfer success workshops for each stage of a student's educational path
  • Summer experiences
  • Mentorship
• CMSP scholars will participate in the UC Riverside School of Medicine Future Physician Leaders summer program beginning in their first year of the program.
• They will work in teams and develop a health education project to address inequities within the Inland Empire.
• The following summer, students will graduate with an independent experience at one of the community-based partner sites.

Program Goals

The primary goal of the CMSP is to train culturally competent medical students to serve the communities in the Inland Empire region, particularly in health professional shortage areas. The program aims to increase the number of physicians in Inland Southern California and address the lack of a comprehensive strategy in California's higher education system to create a pathway from community college to medicine.