As a regional campus of the UCSF School of Medicine, UCSF Fresno recruits and trains future physicians to address the unique health needs of the region’s diverse and underserved populations through the UCSF San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education (SJV PRIME). With strong connections to the Valley, SJV PRIME students call the region home and have demonstrated a commitment to serving underserved communities in the region. Students spend the first 18 months at the UCSF campus in San Francisco, then move to Fresno for the remaining two and a half years of their medical education at UCSF Fresno.
On May 7, UCSF Fresno celebrated its second annual “SJV PRIME Day” by bringing together all 49 medical students enrolled in SJV PRIME. The program’s faculty and students took part in special workshops, and meetings and retreats throughout the day. Friends and supporters of UCSF Fresno also had the opportunity to meet these exceptional students during a reception and luncheon.
John Blossom, MD, attended the event to meet the SJV PRIME student awarded the Betsy Blossom Memorial Endowed Scholarship. He was delighted to reconnect with past Blossom scholars and sit down with the 2024 Blossom Scholar Alyssa Fuentes to learn more about her commitment to becoming a physician and the impact of scholarship support on her journey in medicine.
Dr. Blossom is a UCSF faculty emeritus in Family and Community Medicine and an alumnus of the UCSF School of Medicine Class of 1970.A He completed his residency in Family Medicine at UCSF in Fresno in 1974 and joined the UCSF Fresno Department of Family and Community Medicine as faculty in 1976. Dr. Blossom served in many leadership roles at UCSF Fresno, and he created the memorial-endowed scholarship in 2020 in memory of his late wife, Martha Elizabeth (Betsy) Blossom.
Betsy grew up in the Hunter’s Point district of San Francisco, experiencing the challenges associated with a disadvantaged background. She attended Fresno City College and Fresno State and obtained bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work. As a licensed clinical social worker, she worked at the Fresno County Department of Behavioral Health and in private practice. “Her values were always focused on women in crisis and her heart was open for the underserved,” reflected Dr. Blossom.
Establishing a new scholarship or giving to one that already exists helps the Valley’s next generation of health leaders graduate without crushing debt, leaving them free to focus on the contributions they will make to future excellence in patient care and the science of health. “I have been a part of public education my entire life,” said Dr. Blossom. “It feels good to support UCSF and meet young people who will carry out the mission of the university long after I’m gone.”
We are grateful to Dr. Blossom and other generous donors for their support, which helps ensure a world-class medical education remains accessible to the most exceptional Valley students who come from and understand the communities they one day will serve. Together, we can give SJV PRIME students the chance to graduate with minimal debt and the ability to pursue a career in academia, primary care or care for underserved communities.
To learn more about how your gift to UCSF Fresno can help us continue the important work of educating the next generation of physicians for the Valley, contact Kathleen Smith, assistant director of development, at [email protected] or (559) 499-6426.
