Our mission is to mentor and equip California's Central Valley pre-medical students to become excellent physicians.
Who We Are
Primetime is a mentorship program for pre-medical students from the Central Valley of California (also known as the San Joaquin Valley "SJV"), run by medical students. Through individual mentorship, seminars, online resources, and clinical skills workshops, we offer students the tools they need to succeed in the arduous process of becoming a medical student. Our goal is to offer support and guidance so that we can all grow into excellent and innovative physicians who will soon be caring for our Valley, while forming a strong and supportive community along the way.
What We Do
Our annual seminar series runs from March - April and includes medical school application workshop, one-on-one mentorship, group mentorship, and in-person events. Throughout the rest of the year, we also offer mock interviews, application reviews, speaking events based on medical student availability, and clinical skills workshops on pertinent health conditions in the SJV for pre-medical students with limited clinical experience. Additionally, the Primetime pre-medical student leadership team hosts events both virtually and in-person. Check out our "Events" page for more information.
History
Primetime was started in 2022 by a group of University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) medical students from the San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education (SJV PRIME), a track at UCSF tailored to train physicians for the Central Valley. These students collaborated on a joint event with the University of California, Merced to host mentorship for pre-med students. When the event was so successful, they continued on the program and quadrupled it in size to 100 mentees and 30 mentors in 2023. We launched our pre-medical student leadership team in 2023, consisting of students from the Central Valley who hosted health fairs from May - February.
Primetime has continued to be a strong force in the community, serving 400+ pre-medical students between 2022-2026 and branching our efforts through tailored clinical skills workshops targeting pertinent health conditions in the SJV. In 2025 and 2026, we provided 60 pre-medical students the opportunity to engage in an enriching workshop consisting of 5 different clinical skills, Stop the Bleed training, Immigrant Health & History-Taking, Intro to Auscultation & Vital Signs, Trauma & Suturing, and Narcan Administration & Airway Management, with an overwhelmingly positive response. Primetime intends to carry this mission forward in 2027 and beyond.
Thank you, mentors and mentees!
Primetime is made possible entirely by student volunteers, including medical students who give their time to guide the next generation of Valley physicians and pre-medical students who volunteer to create and maintain the logistics of our community.