Medical Education 

UC Merced is quickly becoming a Valley leader in its efforts to improve specialty healthcare access and medical education opportunities in the San Joaquin Valley. The telemedicine project currently underway will begin to bridge the gap in the severe shortages of opportunity in these areas.

Our Vision:
To enhance the quality of life for patients and healthcare professionals who live and work in rural or underserved communities throughout the San Joaquin Valley.

Our Mission:
To develop telehealth programs that allow efficient, local access to healthcare specialists for the purposes of patient consultation, continuing medical education and physician support.

Our Purpose:
To address the severe healthcare disparities in San Joaquin Valley’s rural and underserved communities by developing solutions to improve access by bringing services home.



Telemedicine and eHealth present unique opportunities to begin to address the San Joaquin Valley’s health care needs, particularly in rural and underserved regions, by strengthening health care systems, enhancing service delivery, and providing opportunities for health-related education.

Telemedicine utilizes high-speed data lines linked to video units at medical centers, hospitals, and clinics to provide access to health services. Telemedicine centers include capabilities for videoconferencing, which enables live interactive consultation and storage of photos and data which can be forwarded to off-site medical specialists.

Establishing eHealth Centers in the Valley will increase access to specialized health care services, raise the level of care at sites served by the eHealth Centers, provide training for health care personnel, help to retain health care dollars in the region, and create a foundation for medical education that will assist in developing a medical school in the Valley.

Thanks to grants totaling nearly $1 million from AT&T, the California Emerging Technology Fund and the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley, UC Merced is prepared to establish the San Joaquin Valley eHealth Network Project, a collective endeavor involving UCSF Fresno and UC Davis that is aimed at creating a telehealth network in the San Joaquin Valley. The initial goal of the project is to develop four eHealth centers in the region with an emphasis on rural and underserved areas and a hub at UC Merced.