Physicians Medical Forum
Visiting Elective Scholarship Program (VESP)
at the University of California, San Francisco

The Visiting Elective Scholarship Program (VESP) supported by the Physicians Medical Forum (PMF) was established to encourage fourth-year medical students who are underrepresented in medicine and are interested in working and conducting research with diverse populations to apply for a fourth-year clinical elective offered through the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). PMF’s mission is to encourage the recruitment and retention of Black/African American physicians and thereby help to eliminate health disparities, improve access to care, maintain diversity within the profession, and improve the quality of life and medical care for people in the Oakland/San Francisco Bay Area of California. The visiting elective scholarship program is designed to:

• Enhance the recruitment of Black/African American medical students to residency training programs in the Oakland/San Francisco Bay Area with the ultimate goal of remaining in the area to practice medicine.
• Expose Black/African American fourth-year medical students who are underrepresented in medicine to an academic training program
• Promote student interest in applying to an academic training program
• Promote interest in clinical and translational research
• Provide mentorship during the clinical elective experience

Clinical electives are four weeks in length and are available, space permitting, to U.S. medical students. VESP participants are assigned a faculty advisor and have the opportunity to network with UCSF faculty, house staff, students and PMF physicians. A diversity dinner with faculty, house staff, and PMF physicians is held during each rotation. In addition, all participants are invited and encouraged to attend various seminars including monthly Medical Effectiveness Research Center for Diverse Populations (MERC) seminars and department grand rounds. Students will also have the opportunity to participate in workshops and training programs offered by the UCSF Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). VESP participation is not affiliated with the UCSF residency match program and participation in the program does not guarantee a residency program interview.