What UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic Project does

The UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic Project (SRFCP) is a student-run healthcare service program founded in 1997 and operated under the UC San Diego Department of Family Medicine, part of the University of California public university system. It delivers free, integrated care across four community-embedded clinic sites in San Diego — Baker Elementary, Downtown (in partnership with 3rd Avenue Charitable Organization), Pacific Beach, and Golden Avenue Elementary — serving uninsured and underserved patients who do not qualify for other healthcare programs, including homeless individuals, working-poor adults, and low-income families with school-age children. The clinical offering spans seven service lines: medical care, mental health, pharmacy, acupuncture, dental, social work, and legal services, with all four sites providing free dental, pharmacy, and integrative medicine.

The SRFCP operates as a trans-disciplinary educational model rather than a standalone care provider: 90% of UCSD medical students participate, with 100+ of 120 first-year students annually electing the prerequisite Community Advocacy/Underserved Medicine elective and 80+ of 120 taking a fourth-year Family Medicine or Underserved Medicine block. Many voluntary faculty are program alumni, creating a self-reinforcing pipeline. Technology is limited to standard care delivery tools; no public API, software platform, or proprietary system is offered.

The business model is donation- and grant-funded, not revenue-generating. All clinical services are provided at no charge to patients. Funding comes from individual donations, foundation grants (notably a $400,000 grant from The Conrad Prebys Foundation in June 2023), business and organization contributions, and UC San Diego institutional support routed through giveto.ucsd.edu. The program holds the 2024 NAFC Gold Rating and is nationally recognized as a training model and 'safety net for the safety net' in San Diego. Adjunct research initiatives include Dr. Ellen Beck's Food Prescription/Food Insecurity Program and a Hypertension Blood Pressure Recheck Workflow.

Name

UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic Project

Legal name

UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic Project

Website

https://familymedicine.ucsd.edu

Company type

Public

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Founded in 1997, the UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic Project operates four community-embedded clinic sites in San Diego under the UC San Diego Department of Family Medicine, delivering free medical, dental, mental health, pharmacy, acupuncture, social work, and legal services to uninsured and underserved populations while training UCSD medical students.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Health Services

NAICS

Offices of Physicians (6211), Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians) (621330)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Student Health & University Primary Care Clinics (HLAFAGAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

School-Based Health Centers (HLAFAGAG), Health Promotion & Public Health Education (Community Workshops) (EDAAAFAG)

Keywords

• Free clinic services
• Student-run healthcare
• Community health programs
• Underserved patient care
• Trans-disciplinary medical training

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: The clinic relies on gifts, grants, and donations from individuals, foundations, businesses, organizations, and UC San Diego as the home institution. A dedicated "Donate Now" page routes contributions through giveto.ucsd.edu.
2. Free healthcare services (no patient revenue): Services to patients are provided at no charge. Care is prioritized for patients who do not qualify for any other healthcare programs or resources, so there is no direct patient revenue stream.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic Project delivers free, integrated healthcare — including medical, mental health, pharmacy, dental, acupuncture, social work, and legal services — to uninsured and underserved populations across four community-embedded clinic sites in San Diego. The program simultaneously trains UCSD medical students through a trans-disciplinary, faculty-supervised educational model and is nationally recognized as a model for training future health professionals in underserved care.

Product overview

The UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic Project is a unified healthcare service program (not a software product or platform) that delivers a core set of integrated services—Medical Services, Mental Health Services, Pharmacy Services, Acupuncture Services, Dental Services, Social Work Services, and Legal Services—across four physical clinic sites: the Baker Elementary Site, Downtown Site (in partnership with 3rd Avenue Charitable Organization), Pacific Beach Site, and Golden Avenue Elementary Site. These clinic sites collectively anchor the program's SRFCP Education & Training Program, a nationally recognized trans-disciplinary educational model that trains health professional students under faculty supervision. Additional adjunct programs include Dr. Ellen Beck's Food Prescription / Food Insecurity Program and the Hypertension Blood Pressure Recheck Workflow, both quality-improvement and research initiatives tied to the Free Clinic. The project functions as a single coordinated offering rather than a modular platform; the listed products/services describe the constituent care modalities and sites that together constitute the Student-Run Free Clinic Project.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Student-Run Free Clinic Project (SRFCP): The umbrella student-run free clinic project operated under UC San Diego Department of Family Medicine, operating four sites (Baker Elementary, Downtown, Pacific Beach, and Golden Avenue Elementary) serving underserved communities in San Diego.

Products and services

• UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic Project (Integrated Free Healthcare Services) A student-run healthcare program providing respectful, empowering, high-quality medical, mental health, pharmacy, dental, acupuncture, social work, and legal services — all free of charge — to underserved populations across four community-embedded clinic sites in San Diego.
• SRFCP Education & Training Program Nationally recognized trans-disciplinary educational model providing clinical training and longitudinal experience for UCSD medical students, faculty, and community leaders seeking to better meet the needs of underserved and vulnerable populations.
• Food Prescription / Food Insecurity Program A research and intervention program led by Dr. Ellen Beck addressing food insecurity and health literacy among patients served by the Student-Run Free Clinic.

Quantifiable outcome

• 90% of UCSD students participate in the SRFCP
• +3 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and flagship.

• 3rd Avenue Charitable OrganizationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity partner for the Downtown Site of the Student-Run Free Clinic Project. The partnership enables the SRFCP to operate a clinic serving working poor and homeless individuals and families in downtown San Diego. The Downtown Site is one of four SRFCP clinic sites.
• Baker Elementary SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosts the Baker Elementary Site of the SRFCP, which serves primarily low-income families in an inner-city neighborhood where 100% of children receive subsidized school lunches. The site also provides free dental services, pharmacy, and integrative medicine services.
• Golden Avenue Elementary SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosts the Golden Avenue Elementary Site of the SRFCP, which serves low-income families in an inner-city neighborhood. The site also includes an after-school program and a middle school elective in Health Promotion, Advocacy, and Professions.
• National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics (NAFC)minorOthersThe SRFCP received the NAFC Gold Rating 2024 under NAFC Quality Standards. NAFC is referenced as the quality-standards accreditation body whose badge is prominently displayed on the SRFCP homepage.
• UC San Diego (UCSD School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerUCSD is the home institution of the Student-Run Free Clinic Project. The SRFCP is administered under the UCSD Department of Family Medicine. UCSD School of Medicine students participate at a 90% rate; more than 100 of 120 first-year students elect the Community Advocacy/Underserved Medicine class; the project was founded in 1997 with Drs. Beck, Johnson, Smith, and Rodriguez as advisors.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Father Joe's Villages Health Services (San Diego): San Diego-based organization providing integrated medical, dental, and behavioral health services to homeless individuals. Operates in the same geography and serves overlapping homeless and working-poor populations served by the UCSD Downtown and Pacific Beach SRFCP sites.
• Family Health Centers of San Diego: Federally qualified community health center network serving low-income San Diego residents with primary care, dental, behavioral health, and pharmacy services. Operates in the same geography and serves overlapping populations, though as a larger FQHC rather than a student-run model.
• St. Vincent de Paul Village Free Clinic (San Diego): San Diego-based free clinic serving homeless and low-income individuals in the same operating geography as UCSD SRFCP. Comparable target population and service mix, though not student-run.
• Clinica Romero (Los Angeles): Southern California community clinic providing free and low-cost primary care, dental, and behavioral health to uninsured populations in the LA metro. Comparable service breadth and target population across the same broader region.

Others

• National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics (NAFC): National membership and accreditation body for free and charitable clinics, including the UCSD SRFCP (Gold Rating 2024). Acts as the standards-setter and network that connects and benchmarks free clinics across the country.

Emerging players

• Volunteers in Medicine (national network): National network of free clinics relying on volunteer professionals to serve uninsured patients. Comparable mission of free care for the underserved, though most VIM clinics are not student-run.

Direct peers

• USC Keck Student-Run Free Clinic: Another Southern California student-run free clinic operated through a major medical school, delivering free care to underserved populations while training medical students. Directly comparable in mission, model, and student engagement structure to the UCSD SRFCP.
• Stanford Cardinal Free Clinics: Stanford's network of student-run free clinics serving underserved Bay Area populations. Comparable in combining primary care with specialty services and integrating medical student training.
• UCLA Mobile Clinic Project: UCLA student-run free clinic delivering care to underserved Los Angeles communities. Operates with a similar faculty-supervised, student-volunteer care delivery model and serves comparable populations (homeless, working poor).
• UC Irvine Student-Run Free Clinic: UC Irvine's student-run free clinic providing free healthcare to uninsured Orange County residents under faculty supervision. Closely comparable operating model within the same University of California system.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC9jPo5cbvxfMJ0CqaMom55w
• Facebookfacebook.com/ucsdfreeclinic
• Instagraminstagram.com/ucsdfc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ucsd-free-clinic

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic Project