Can any current medical students share their personal experiences at UCR? What is the student culture like and what are you all involved in outside of classes? Also, I'm committed to pursuing primary care. Is the faculty and environment there supportive of primary care students? I've talked to medical students at other schools who said there was a hostile environment against primary care students and they would experience microaggressions like staff/classmates saying things like "you're too smart to do primary care," or "you won't make any money in that field." I don't think that would be the case at UCR since their mission includes addressing the health needs of underserved communities, but I wanted to hear an insider's perspective.
Thank you!!!!
@UCR16 @brenasuarus @general987
UCR is extremely Primary Care oriented - I would be absolutely shocked if you ever heard similar things said by any student, faculty, or staff here. In my opinion, UCR is one of the best schools to go to if you want to pursue primary care, for a number of reasons:
1) You begin learning clinical skills and interview techniques your first week, which are directly applied in real patient encounters/primary care settings on a daily basis for most physicians. From day one, our curriculum is about equipping you to become a fantastic clinician.
2) LACE (Longitudinal Ambulatory Care Experience) - one day every other week for the first two years, about 5 hours each time. Third year it's every week. Think of this as a jump-start on traditional 3rd-year clinical rotations in IM/FM, except you work with the same physician over the course of a 3-year period. I think that is extremely beneficial for students, and that UCR is ahead of their time in implementing this into their cirriculum. I'll wager that, come 10-20 years, you'll see schools across the nation following suit.
3) Student-run free clinics. There are currently two: one in downtown Riverside, the other 20-minutes away in San Bernardino. This is your chance to play doctor, get pimped by the overseeing (yet not overbearing) physicians, and partner with other schools and programs including nursing, pharmacy, dental, psychology, and social services. At these clinics you make a real difference in people's lives, and you learn a
heck of a lot in the process.
4) The Culture. A huge chunk of us want to go into primary care and/or are dedicated to making a difference in our respective communities. The admin is all about that. At the same time, for the students who want to get into ortho/plastics/derm/etc., the admin is there to help them meet their goals and achieve their dreams as well - it's not like only people interesting in becoming a PCP are allowed in. Overall the school has a very supportive and friendly environment, but it is certainly not without the many hiccups of being a new school. If I could choose this school again, I would - if only for my mental/emotional health. Pass/fail cirriculum and lots of clinical is where it's at (for me).
