The four-story, 200,000-square-foot facility will house instructional and research spaces, academic offices and the campus' B.S. to M.D. Pathway program. The building is expected to open in fall 2026, with the first medical students starting classes there in 2027.
"We already have our first two cohorts of B.S. to M.D.," Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz said. "They'll finish their bachelor's of science here and immediately begin medical school in this building in the fall of 2027."
About 9,000 students started classes this week, including the third cohort in the pathway program. Muñoz said the facility will help address the shortage of health care workers in the Central Valley.
"We're going to focus on primary care physicians and people who are from the Valley," he said. "The hope is that they stay in the Valley to care for the Valley."
Construction began in May 2024. Dustin Noji, UC Merced's director of admissions, said the project is progressing well.
"They're getting some of the structure up right now," Noji said. "We're seeing a lot of steel girders come up."
Noji says there is excitement surrounding the project. The $300 million project will not only train future healthcare workers but also expand UC Merced's biomedical research capabilities.
"They're going to have a lot of unique opportunities," Noji said. "Things like additional research opportunities and the ability to engage with health care faculty."
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