UCR Gets $3M Grant To Recruit Future Physicians While They're In Grade School

Kaiser Permanente of Southern California awarded a $3 million grant to the UC Riverside School of Medicine for development of a program intended to start recruiting future physicians in grade school, it was announced today.

"This timely and generous support from Kaiser Permanente 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," medical school Dean Richard Olds said. "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."

The two-year grant will go toward the establishment of an "Imagining Your Future in Medicine" program, which seeks to inspire youngsters to plan for careers in the health sciences.

The UCR School of Medicine will provide academic counseling, study materials and other resources that bolster youths' appreciation of the medical profession, campus officials said.

One of the highlights of the program will be one-week summer camps for 40-50 socioeconomically disadvantaged students in seventh to 10th grades, who will take part in interactive science workshops, as well as receive an introduction to laboratory work and learn about the requirements of premed students hoping to become MDs.

"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, associate dean for student affairs at the School of Medicine.

The university's inaugural class of 50 med students will begin courses this fall. More than 2,400 applied.

The UCR School of Medicine is the first medical school to be established within the UC system in more than 40 years. Enrollment is expected to peak at 400 by 2020, according to campus officials. --City News Service