It was with the local racially and ethnically diverse population in mind (and shortage concerns) and using a more clinic-centered approach, that the U.C. Riverside medical school was created in 2013. The school has aimed to better serve those in the region by recruiting their students from the area with hopes they will stay and practice in inland California (eight to 10 students per class get loans that can be forgiven if they practice locally after training, and 40 percent of the Class of 2018 has stayed in the area for their medical residencies).

The school also pairs students with a local clinic from the first month, which appeals to Ms. Alfaro, who was raised in a low-income family that received medical care at local clinics (“we didn’t have health insurance”). She has been volunteering at the Riverside Free Clinic since she was a sophomore at U.C. Riverside, and she wants to serve her community when she is a doctor.

Ms. Alfaro sees technology “as a driving force behind the improvement in health care” that could make visits more efficient for her future patients. “You want to do the most for your patients in those 10 minutes,” she said, so they walk out “with their needs met.”

Can technology bridge geography? Solve problems of access? There are growing ways and settings in which patients can get health care. And that includes virtually, which spurred N.Y.U. School of Medicine last year to begin offering medical students an elective in telemedicine.

Students, “know that technology will absolutely be a big deal” in practice, said Dr. Triola. He tapped the N.Y.U. Langone Virtual Urgent Care app on his phone, revealing rows of rectangles: available appointments.

“We can see a doctor in 36 minutes,” he said.