With a commitment of $60 million, the Prime Healthcare Foundation established the California University of Science and Medicine, a private, non-profit medical school located in Southern California in 2018 with a mission to advance medicine, improve the health of communities and inspire service in underserved areas. The school welcomed its first class of medical students in July 2018.

The California University of Science and Medicine will cultivate an environment that facilitates advances in education, research and healthcare delivery, and it will partner with Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, the County of San Bernardino's top-quality healthcare facility, and other hospitals in the county and throughout Southern California to train the next generation of innovative, compassionate and diverse healthcare professionals.

The need for a medical school - physician shortage:

According to the American Association of Medical Colleges, the United States faces a shortage of 91,500 primary care and specialist physicians by 2020. In San Bernardino County, there is just one primary care physician per 1,201 people, one half the number compared to the national rate.

The need for a medical school - aging Baby Boomer population:

Baby Boomers are individuals born between 1946 and 1964 and make up about 26.1 percent of the U.S. population, or an estimated 78 million people. California is one of five states with the largest Baby Boomer population. It is expected that one of every six Californians will be 65 or older by 2030 and, as the Baby Boomer population ages, a more intense, dignified and responsive health care system will be required to meet their medical needs.

The need for a medical school - California medical students abroad:

According to a government report, from 1998 to 2008 the federal government loaned $1.5 billion to U.S. students enrolled in foreign medical institutions through the Federal Family Education Loan Program. Of the 42,000 medical student applicants, only 18,600 matriculated and the remainder was forced to consider alternatives. For example, 20 to 25 percent of students currently enrolled in medical schools in the Caribbean islands are from California. A majority of these students graduated from elite California colleges with excellent grade-point averages. California, however, has just 8 fully accredited MD schools, and one new one (UC Riverside), for a population of 39 million; in comparison, New York, with a population of 19.5 million, has 13 MD schools.