Accelerated competency-based education in primary care (ACE-PC): a 3-year UC Davis and Kaiser permanente partnership to meet California’s primary care physician workforce needs

Problem Our nation faces an urgent need for more primary care (PC) physicians, yet interest in PC careers is dwindling. Students from underrepresented in medicine (UIM) backgrounds are more likely to choose PC and practice in underserved areas yet their representation has declined. Accelerated PC programs have the potential to address workforce needs, lower educational debt, and diversify the physician workforce to advance health equity.Approach With support from Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) and the American Medical Association’s Accelerating Change in Medical Education initiative, University of California School of Medicine (UC Davis) implemented the Accelerated Competency-based Education in Primary Care (ACE-PC) program – a six-year pathway from medical school to residency for students committed to health equity and careers in family medicine or PC-internal medicine. ACE-PC accepts 6–10 students per year using the same holistic admissions process as the 4-year MD program with an additional panel interview that includes affiliated residency program faculty from UC Davis and KPNC. The undergraduate curriculum features: PC continuity clinic with a single preceptor throughout medical school; a 9-month longitudinal integrated clerkship; supportive PC faculty and culture; markedly reduced student debt with full-tuition scholarships; weekly PC didactics; and clinical rotations in affiliated residency programs with the opportunity to match into specific ACE-PC residency tracks.Outcomes Since 2014, 70 students have matriculated to ACE-PC, 71% from UIM groups, 64% are first-generation college students. Of the graduates, 48% have entered residency in family medicine and 52% in PC-internal medicine. In 2020, the first graduates entered the PC workforce; all are practicing in California, including 66% at federally qualified health centers, key providers of underserved care.