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University of California trying to 'Grow' More Doctors for Valley
By Doug Hoagland--The Fresno Bee--6/22/08--- The Valley needs more Asian, black and Hispanic doctors -- and the University of California is trying to "grow" them in three Fresno County high schools. UC runs a Doctors Academy at Sunnyside, Selma and Caruthers high schools -- which have diverse student bodies -- to give academic help, counseling and mentoring opportunities to students interested in medicine.
The goal is to help some of them become doctors who then will work in the Valley -- helping solve the region's doctor shortage. Officials believe a proposed medical school at UC Merced also could help. The closest medical schools now are in San Francisco and Davis. Doctors with diverse backgrounds often speak the languages and understand the cultural issues of Valley patients, said Dr. Katherine Flores.
Flores is director of the Latino Center for Medical Education and Research, part of UC San Francisco's medical education program in Fresno. The Latino Center oversees the Doctors Academy.
"You can relate when patients talk about their living environments," she said. "If you haven't lived it, you lived next door to it."
The Valley has 30% fewer primary-care doctors and 50% fewer specialists per capita than California as a whole.
Doctors of color are in shorter supply. In the central San Joaquin Valley, 5% of doctors are Hispanic, 3% are black and a handful are Southeast Asian, Flores said.
The academy -- which had nearly 200 students last school year at the three high schools -- started in 1999 at Sunnyside in southeast Fresno. Participants take most classes with other students, but the academy offers some specialized courses taught by faculty at the three schools.