ABOUT THE PROGRAM

The UC Berkeley–UCSF Joint Medical Program (JMP) is a five-year M.S./M.D. Program. Our curriculum provides a comprehensive and cross-disciplinary approach to medical education which encompasses the humanities, social and behavioral sciences and public health. Throughout the program, we support our students in their mastery of medical knowledge and the complex issues of healthcare and illness.

The first three years of the program are spent on the Berkeley campus, where students complete their pre-clerkship medical curriculum. Our program centers around an innovative format of student-initiated, case-based learning which covers the educational requirements for M.D. licensure. Elective coursework occurs concurrently for master’s thesis work in the School of Public Health. A minimum of 20 units is required for the M.S. degree in Health and Medical Sciences (HMS) and candidates may select relevant courses from any campus department.

Students take the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam, Step 1 upon satisfactory completion of their pre-clerkship curriculum, elective courses and M.S. thesis. Clinical clerkships occur at UCSF during the last two years of the program, resulting in a Medical Doctorate upon graduation. Over half of our students subsequently choose residencies in primary care followed by other specialties, fellowships and additional training; our alumni work in a diverse range of clinical, academic and public health careers.

Our Mission
The mission of the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program is to train students to become physician-leaders in the human, sociocultural, and bioethical contexts of health and disease.

In pursuing this goal, the Joint Medical Program values and seeks to reflect:
• a commitment to exemplary education in the basic medical sciences
• a focus on cross-disciplinary research in the humanities, social and
behavioral sciences, and public health
• an investment in education conducted in communities, by community
physicians
• a spirit of innovation in the design of a medical education curriculum
• an orientation toward student-initiated, cooperative, small group
problem-based learning
• a responsibility for fostering self-reflective growth and inquiry among its students, and
• a dedication to nurturing the creative potential of human diversity