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Welcome message from the PRIME-LC director

Dr. Charles P. Vega, director of the UC Irvine School of Medicine's PRIME-LC Program
UC Irvine Health Marketing & Communications
The PRIME-LC Program is designed to create leaders and physician-activists who will serve Latino communities, says Dr. Charles Vega, director of the program.

The Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community (PRIME-LC) at UC Irvine is a five-year, dual-degree program designed to create leaders and physician-activists who will work in underserved Latino communities.

PRIME-LC accomplishes this mission through a combination of immersion experiences in both Mexico and Southern California with:

  • Coursework led by a committed group of faculty from the School of Medicine as well as the School of Social Sciences

  • Collaboration with advocacy groups and community leaders focused on contemporary issues affecting Latino communities

  • Advanced degree coursework and community projects designed to transform these medical students’ concepts of health and leadership

Planning for PRIME-LC began in 2001 and we enrolled our first cohort of students in 2004.

We also have created a residency track for PRIME-LC in Family Medicine here at UC Irvine.

Our graduates are now working toward achieving one of our most important goals: to create a network of physician-activists and leaders across the state of California — all working in different yet interconnected ways to reduce healthcare disparities for Latino patients, particularly Latino immigrants.

We accept only students who have demonstrated a significant commitment to social justice and the Latino community.

We take this commitment and augment students’ enthusiasm and abilities through a novel, multidisciplinary curriculum.

Our students have already accomplished some remarkable things in their time here.

The establishment of PRIME-LC has enriched our campus and our larger community, and I hope that you are as excited as I am about this tremendous program!

Dr. Charles P. Vega, MD
Director, PRIME-LC Program
cpvega@uci.edu