$3 million grant will strengthen and augment schools successful programs that prepare students for health professions

By Iqbal Pittalwala on April 3, 2013

Imagining Your Future in Medicine addresses student needs that are distinctive at each phase of the path toward becoming a physician.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. The School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside has been awarded a grant of $3 million over a two-year period from health care provider Kaiser Permanente Southern California to increase the size and reach of the schools existing pipeline programs a continuum of student enrichment and academic support programs and thus broaden and diversify the pool of students applying to medical school.

Imagining Your Future in Medicine, the theme of the augmented pipeline programs, addresses student needs that are distinctive at each phase of the path toward becoming a physician middle school, high school, community college, university and medical school. It extends beyond the School of Medicines two signature pipeline programs, the Medical Scholars Program and FastStart, which focus on the undergraduate phase of the medical education continuum.

This timely and generous support from Kaiser Permanente Southern California will help us vastly expand the capabilities of the medical school and inspire more young students in Inland Southern California to become service-minded physicians, said G. Richard Olds, the founding dean of the School of Medicine and the vice chancellor for health affairs. Best of all, the gift will allow us to reach students even in middle schools, engage them early in the sciences and prepare them for admission to medical school and eventually health-related careers.

G. Richard Olds is the founding dean of the UC Riverside School of Medicine. Photo credit: UCR Strategic Communications.

By integrating pipeline programs for middle school, high school and community college students in Inland Southern California, Imagining Your Future in Medicine aims to ultimately bring greater diversity to the Inland Southern California physician workforce, which currently does not reflect the ethnic fabric of the region. Its activities, such as academic and career enrichment tactics, parental involvement and financial support, are specifically designed to enhance students eligibility for entry into medical school.

Imagining Your Future in Medicine strives to maintain continuity between the individual pipeline programs, leading to sustained student engagement and retention into and through completion of medical school. Once students join the pipeline, the medical school will provide a seamless pathway for academic preparation and enrichment, preparing students for entry into medical training and ultimately residency, particularly in primary care and short-supply specialties.

Our model of outreach and engagement begins at an earlier stage than most models because we believe that if we are to effectively prepare students for successful admission to medical school, we must begin focusing our efforts when they are just starting to formulate ideas about their futures as their life aspirations begin to take shape, said Neal Schiller, the senior associate dean for student affairs at the School of Medicine.

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Kaiser Permanente Southern California Supports UCR Medical School ’s Aims to Build Diverse Physician Workforce in ...