The Primary Care Leadership Academy (PCLA) is a collaboration of UCSF students, residents, and faculty working together to engage in primary care transformation, enhance community health outreach, optimize primary care education, mentor primary care career choice, and promote primary care advocacy.
Health Policy Scholars Program
The Health Policy Scholars Program is a new initiative within the Primary Care Leadership Academy. The program supports medical students’ development of health policy knowledge and skills needed to create systems change and revitalize primary care. Through the program, scholars collaborate with researchers, health care workers, patients, and policymakers to advocate for a health care system that values and uplifts robust primary care services for all. The first major accomplishment of students in the Health Policy Scholars Program has been to write an incisive policy brief issued in April 2024, “Healing the Foundation: The Critical Importance of Investing in Primary Care in California.” Scholars are currently disseminating the brief to the Healthy California Now coalition, the California Academy of Family Physicians, and other stakeholders to elevate attention to primary care in health care reform initiatives in the state.
Some additional ways students are involved in primary care transformation is through participation in Student Service Learning Experiences. Shelter Clinic, Mabuhay Health Center, and Clinica Martin-Baro are opportunities for students to engage directly with underserved populations in the community.
Another area of student involvement is the annual Rodnick Colloquim our department sponsors each Spring. Students present their work alongside department faculty and UCSF Family Medicine Educational Alliance partners.
Additionally, interested students have the opportunity to participate in FCM Grand Rounds. At noon on the first Friday of each month the Department of Family and Community Medicine provides a forum for deep reflection on some of the most pressing issues in primary care and the great work being done by those aligned with our mission.
Overall, PCLA members are UCSF students who share a common desire to:
- Engage in primary care innovation
- Develop mentorship
- Increase the status of primary care
- Advocate locally and nationally for efforts to improve primary care
Ultimately, the goal is to mobilize a strong community of individuals who recognize the importance of primary care and want to be a part of the rapidly transforming field(s). If this sounds like you, we encourage ALL of you to share your interests with us and join in on that community!
If you have any questions about Primary Care Leadership Academy, its structure or its goals, please contact: Margo Vener, MD, MPH
Please come join with us and strengthen the community of Primary Care!