Entering class, summer 2004

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Joint Medical Program (JMP), a collaboration between the UCSF School of Medicine and the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. With its innovative, interdisciplinary approach, the JMP "forges productive links between the rich resources of a highly-renowned liberal arts campus and a premier health science campus to bring forth doctors skilled not only in medical sciences, but also in the human, socio-cultural, and bioethical contexts of health and disease," according to JMP Director John E. Swartzberg, MD, based at the School of Public Health where the program is housed.

Admitted simultaneously to both campuses, JMP students spend their first three years at Berkeley fulfilling preclinical science requirements for MD licensure and completing a Master of Science degree. Upon graduating from UC Berkeley with the MS, students move over to UCSF for two years of clinical clerkships to graduate from UCSF with the MD degree.

The JMP selects only a dozen students each year, a number of whom have already made significant contributions to public health and community medicine through prior research, activism, professional work, and volunteerism. The 36 students currently enrolled speak a total of 17 languages, conduct research on 4 continents, and are involved in a plethora of causes from environmental issues to human rights. Several have already authored or co-authored papers in professional journals. JMP alumni continue to be involved in research and scholarly writing, as well as medical education, public service, public health, and community medicine.

"JMP students are passionate about their thesis work, and thoughtful and compassionate as physicians," says David Irby, vice dean for Education at the UCSF School of Medicine. "The program's simultaneous teaching of not only physicianship, but also skills in research and critical thinking, prepares JMP students to be leaders of medicine in the 21st century."

The breadth of topics tackled by JMP students is illustrated by such recent theses titles as "Ureterocele Management: a Meta-Analysis"; "Female-to-Male Transgender Quality of Life"; "Evaluation of a Community-Based Mental Health Program for Refugees"; "Health Knowledge, Values and Beliefs in the North American Punjabi Sikh Immigrant Population"; and "Training Traditional Birth Attendants to Avert Maternal Deaths: A Model for the Internally Displaced in Burma."

A case-based, cross-disciplinary curriculum

The JMP features a case-based medical curriculum and significant cross-disciplinary elective master's coursework selected from the wide variety of Berkeley campus academic offerings, as well as an extended clinical skills track. In addition, JMP students manage the Suitcase Clinic, a student and volunteer-run organization serving Berkeley's homeless population.

The JMP's distinguished faculty includes experts in human rights, ethics, aging, death and dying, wellness, cultural competencies, infectious diseases, AIDS, emergency medicine, inquiry-driven learning, and medical education assessment. The JMP maintains strong relationships with community physicians, who serve as clinical preceptors, guest lecturers, and mentors for master's research. The program is also closely affiliated with UC Berkeley's Center for Medicine, the Humanities and Law, Human Rights Center, and Resource Center on Aging.

Future plans for the program

And what's on the boards for the future of the program?

According to JMP Clinical Professor Guy Micco, director of the Resource Center on Aging, the recent introduction of a longitudinal geriatric experience with residents of East Bay senior care facilities will add "an exciting new component" to the program.

In addition, the School of Public Health has launched a new division of Community Health and Human Development, which Schwartzberg expects "will position the JMP well to optimize interdisciplinary research and teaching partnerships."

For more information about the Joint Medical Program, see jmp.berkeley.edu.


Source: Jessea Greenman, UCB-UCSF Joint Medical Program