Medical Minute | May 2023
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First Group of Community College Students Accepted into California Medicine Scholars Program
Pictured: California Medicine Scholars at the UC Riverside campus for the Inland Empire Regional Hub’s California Medicine Scholars Program orientation.
The California Medicine Scholars Program (CMSP) recently welcomed its first class of California community college students, a group of scholars from across the state who will receive tailored academic support on their path to medical school.
The students, called California Medicine Scholars, will be provided a range of advising, mentorship, and volunteer healthcare experiences through four Regional Hubs of Healthcare Opportunity:
- Greater Northern California, AvenueM: UC Davis School of Medicine
- Inland Empire: UC Riverside School of Medicine
- Region X: UC San Diego School of Medicine
- San Joaquin Valley: UCSF School of Medicine-Fresno
The California Medicine Scholars Program aims to diversify the primary care physician workforce and respond to looming health workforce shortages. The first cohort of students come from diverse backgrounds.
At orientation events in January and March of this year, students had the opportunity to meet their peers and medical school faculty members and gain valuable insights into the experiences that lie ahead of them in the coming years.
Pictured: California Medicine Scholars from the Region X Regional Hub participating in a surgery orientation at UC San Diego.
California Community Colleges Month
Celebrated last month, California Community Colleges Month is observed every April. With an extensive presence across four regional hubs, we are honored to have nearly 40 community colleges represented. The faculty and staff of our partner community colleges across the regional hubs play a crucial and invaluable role in ensuring the success of our students. Community colleges are an essential part of the educational ecosystem for underrepresented students across California, providing these students with accessible entry into higher education and a springboard for launching into various fields of study and careers.
Below, we highlight one of our California Medicine Scholars Program community college students and a regional hub staff from a partner community college site. In future editions of the CMSP Medical Minute, we will feature more of our outstanding community college students and partners.
California Medicine Scholar Profile - Araceli Robles
Araceli Robles is a biology major at Sacramento City College and a California Medicine Scholar in the AvenueM, Greater Northern California Regional Hub of Healthcare Opportunity. Robles was inspired to pursue a career in medicine when she saw her abuelita (grandmother) in the hospital.
“My abuelita is my best friend and the strongest person I know. I have seen her strength firsthand as she battles with diabetes. She has now lost two of her toes and, as a result, had to learn to walk again,” Robles said. “Yet she has never been alone; she’s had physicians' support, even with their limited ability to speak her language. At the age of twelve, I spent my afternoons in the hospital alongside my abuelita to translate for her because my family could not speak English, and I noticed that she was one of many community members facing similar language barriers in clinical settings. I was saddened by this, but at the same time, I became inspired to become a voice and resource for them, just like they had been for my family. Essentially, it’s the exemplary individuals in scrubs to whom I am grateful for keeping my grandma with me and who have moved me to have those same abilities, which is to care for the lives of others. Someone is out there counting on their loved ones to be taken care of in moments of need, and I would want to be their beacon of hope based on my actions and my education as a physician.”
Regional Hub Staff Profile
Crystal Jacobs is an extended education paraprofessional at the Trinity Campus of Shasta College, which is part of the AvenueM, Greater Northern California Regional Hub. Jacobs attests that Shasta’s partnership with UC Davis will help outlying rural areas by reducing the shortage of physicians in the local communities and helping to break down the barriers students face coming from a rural setting and providing a structured pathway into the medical field.
“Working to help support my community has always been my dream,” Jacobs said. “At Shasta College, I am excited to help students grow and reach their full potential by providing them with the support and guidance they need to be successful. I am immensely proud to be a part of Shasta College. AvenueM will provide rural students who are interested in pursuing medical school with opportunities that will significantly help and advance their educational journey.”
CMSP Events and Workshops for Students
In this section, we provide a summary of recent CMSP events and workshops, as well as upcoming events and workshops.
Recent Events and Workshops
FAFSA 101: Everything You Need to Know
Jessica Garcia, CMSP Program Specialist, recently shared information with California Medicine Scholars about the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which is used to determine eligibility for financial aid. The presentation included helpful advice on applying for financial aid, descriptions of the different types of financial assistance, and where to find scholarships.
The Path to Practice: A Medical Student Speaker Series: Dr. Alexis Woods
Dr. Alexis Woods, a PGY4 general surgery resident at the UC Davis Medical Center, spoke to California Medicine Scholars about her journey from community college to the medical profession as part of the Path to Practice: A Medical Student Speaker Series. Dr. Woods gave an inside look at the challenges of successfully completing the coursework required to get into and finish medical school. She also shared tips with the students. She discussed her personal challenges balancing schooling and her family, financing her education, and experiencing a brief period of homelessness.
“My number one recommendation for doing well academically would be to ask for help early on. If you are having a hard time or if you feel like you are struggling, don’t be afraid to ask [for help],” Dr. Woods said. “If you are not getting what you need from someone, then go somewhere else. There are a lot of resources out there, particularly through your community college.”
The Path to Practice: A Medical Student Speaker Series: Kevin Gilbert
Kevin Gilbert, a fourth-year medical student at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and Assistant Director of the California Medicine San Diego Pilot Program, spoke to students about his journey from community college to medical school on April 6. Kevin discussed how physicians who showed cultural sensitivity and a deep level of care initially inspired him to pursue a career in medicine. After hearing about Kevin’s experiences along the way to and in medical school, students took advantage of the opportunity to ask him questions during the Q&A session. Students asked Kevin about a wide range of topics including balancing work and school, ways to stay motivated across the journey, how to make your medical school application stand out, and choosing specific career paths within medicine.
The Path to Practice: A Medical Student Speaker Series: Alexandra Dubinin
On April 24, Alexandra Dubinin walked students through the different sections of a medical school application, detailing her own journey as a first-generation community college student for each respective section. Alexandra attended Santa Rosa Junior College before transferring to UC Berkeley and then being accepted to UC San Diego School of Medicine. Throughout the session, Alexandra shared an array of useful tips and strategies related to course planning, studying for courses, gap years, balancing school and work, finding research opportunities as a community college student, and considerations for medical school personal statements. During the Q&A at the end of the session, students asked Alexandra for additional information about extracurricular opportunities, maintaining a high GPA during undergraduate years, MCAT prep strategies, and applying to residency programs.
Upcoming Events and Workshops
For more information about upcoming events and workshops, please follow the California Medicine Scholars Program on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. These workshops and events are open to any student interested in attending.
Scholarship Bootcamp Part 1
June 7, 2023, 6 - 8:15 p.m.
Led by Marianne Ragins, this workshop will provide valuable scholarship information and guide participants through the intricate process of the ins and outs of searching and applying for them.
Pictured: A group of California Medicine Scholars at UC San Diego converse during an improv workshop.
Other Resources to Share with Students
CMSP has collected resources that can assist students on their journey to medical school. We encourage you to share these resources.
Scholarships.com, founded in 1998, helps students find financial assistance for college and learn about the entire financial aid process.
Fastweb.com is a free scholarship search platform that connects students to scholarships and financial aid tools.
Niche provides in-depth profiles of every school and college in America for prospective students and has a robust section on financial aid.
GoConqr is a personal learning environment that allows students and teachers to create, discover, and share learning resources. Goconqr includes study tools to create Mind Maps, Flashcards, Notes, and Quizzes.
Research and Data
Research, data, and evaluation are important to the California Medicine Scholars Program to ensure that we are not only capturing the successes of this program but also continuing to improve based on current information. We are pleased to announce that we are engaging with the George Washington University Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity to work as the program’s external evaluation team.
Research Spotlight
Aspiring Physicians Program: Description and Characterization of the Support Processes for an Undergraduate Pathway Program to Medicine: This recently-published article explores and evaluates the student support services that were most beneficial to student success in the Aspiring Physicians Program at the UCSF School of Medicine, a medical preparatory program for underrepresented college students.
Strategies and Best Practices to Improve Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Among US Graduate Medical Education Programs: This recently-published article identifies strategies and practices that exemplary graduate medical education (GME) programs across the US have implemented to improve efforts related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Outreach to community college students was one approach GME programs leveraged to grow a pool of diverse applicants.
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: California’s Bottlenecked Education Pipeline Leaks Needed Latino/x and Black Medical Students: This April 2023 article from the California Health Care Foundation discusses key aspects related to the disparities that exist in the recruitment and retention of Latino/x and Black medical students in California. In addition to a thorough analysis of the problem, the authors also provide recommendations for closing the gap.
AAMC Western Group on Educational Affairs (WGEA) Conference
Pictured: The California Medicine Scholars Program at the 2023 AAMC WGEA Conference in Hawaii. Top row: Jessica Garcia (CMSP, Foundation for California Community Colleges), Dr. Ramon Hernandez (UC San Diego School of Medicine), Dr. Jacob Bailey (UC San Diego School of Medicine). Bottom row: Dr. Charlene Green (UC Davis School of Medicine), Dr. Kenny Banh (UCSF Fresno School of Medicine), Teresa Cofield (UC Riverside School of Medicine).
Lead partners from all four California Medicine Scholars Program regional hubs and the Central Office led a panel discussion at the AAMC WGEA Conference, which took place in Honolulu between April 14 to 17. During the session, the panel discussed the development of the California Medicine Scholars Program’s strategic approach, the ways that regional hub leads developed partnerships among institutions to launch each regional hub, and how regional factors influence implementation and collaboration across various contexts. In addition to the panel discussion, Jessica Garcia (CMSP, Foundation for California Community Colleges) and Dr. Kenny Banh (UCSF Fresno School of Medicine) participated in the conference’s poster session–sharing information on key design features of the California Medicine Scholars Program and the regional hub approach. The poster can be viewed here.
In the News
The efforts of the California Medicine Scholars Program have been featured in several articles. In case you missed them, the following links highlight our work:
- Sacramento Bee: California needs more Black, Latino doctors. Could community colleges be part of the solution?
- AAMCNews: From community college to medical school
- Cal Wellness Foundation: Meet Two Nonprofits on a Mission to Diversify California Doctors
- Stat News: How one medical school became remarkably diverse — without considering race in admissions
- Inside Higher Ed: Diversifying California’s Doctors
- GV Wire: UC Offers New Support for Community College Students Who Want to Become Doctors
- The Press-Enterprise: Program at UC Riverside aims to deliver more doctors to Inland Empire
Have questions? For more information contact us at: info@california-medicine.org.