Margo Vener MD, MPH, Vice Chair of Education at the UCSF Department of Family & Community Medicine (FCM), has been appointed chair of the Department of Medical Education at UC Merced. Dr. Vener has served as the director of the Office of Medical Education at UC Merced since 2022. Her appointment comes as UC Merced works with lawmakers to expand medical education in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV).
The SJV has one of the most severe physician workforce shortages in California and some of the worst health outcomes. However, it also has an incredibly strong community and strong roots in political advocacy. Last week, US Representatives Jim Costa and Adam Grey introduced a bill to increase funding for medical education in physician shortage areas. Commenting on the effort in Merced Focus, Vener said there has been a surge of interest in the university’s SJV PRIME+ program that funnels students through an undergraduate program for their bachelor of science degree through a medical school degree in collaboration with UC San Francisco.
“All the students that we are enrolling are from the Valley and for the Valley, because they want to really make a difference in promoting health in their communities,” Vener said. That, she added, is likely to eventually translate to those would-be doctors to stay in the Valley to practice medicine.
Learn more about Dr. Vener and her work in this UC Merced news article: UC Merced's New Medical Education Director Values Service