UC Davis medical school hosts more than 100 participants as part of diversity commitment.

Mayra Alvarez

More than 100 participants from around California convened at the UC Davis School of Medicine for a conference focused on supporting “pipeline” programs that work to increase diversity in the health professions.

The School of Medicine hosted the conference as part of its commitment to diversify the health care workforce. To improve health for all, UC Davis is transforming the nation’s health-care system and workforce to reduce health disparities and meet the needs of underserved populations.

In addition to hosting, the School of Medicine co-sponsored the conference on behalf of the California Health Professions Consortium on Oct. 13-14. Held at the school’s Education Building in Sacramento, the conference was the third annual statewide gathering of pipeline programs and the health employers, government agencies and educational institutions with whom they partner to increase the ranks of underrepresented groups in the health-care industry.

The School of Medicine has a number of programs designed to increase the diversity of health-professions students, including:

• The Saturday Academy — Established and taught by first-year medical students, this unique program introduces high school students to a mini-version of medical school as a way to guide them into possible careers in health professions.
• Medical Student Anatomy Lab High School Outreach Program — Medical students conduct anatomy lab classes and make presentations on admission requirements for the School of Medicine.
• Summer Scrubs — This three-day academic preparation program helps talented high school students achieve their dreams of health care careers through in-depth preparation for their upcoming SAT exams, with a special medical emphasis.

Although helping underrepresented and disadvantaged students to succeed academically in becoming health professionals is more important than ever, the economy, California’s budget and changes in funding priorities are making such support more challenging. The conference helped address a pressing need to strengthen networks, alliances and creative solutions among different organizations at local, regional and statewide levels that work to diversify the health care workforce.

The conference’s keynote speaker was Mayra Alvarez, director of Public Health Policy in the Office of Health Reform at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Alvarez discussed recent and upcoming changes in health care delivery strategies and their effect on medical education as a result of the 2010 health-care reform law, the Affordable Care Act. She described efforts by President Obama’s administration to meet the health needs of Americans, including its work to make the recruitment and retention of primary care professionals a priority.

“Primary care providers are critical for ensuring better coordinated care and better health outcomes for all Americans,” Alvarez said. “Demand for primary care services will likely increase in the coming years as the nation’s population ages and as more Americans seek preventive care.”

Alvarez said that together, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Affordable Care Act and ongoing federal investments in the health-care workforce have led to significant progress in training more new primary-care providers and encouraging them to practice in underserved areas.

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UC Irvine doctor whose dad was AMA’s first black president is also a trailblazer.

Robert Bristow, UC Irvine

For the last several years, UC Irvine’s Dr. Robert E. Bristow has been named one of the Best Doctors in America for gynecologic cancers by Best Doctors Inc. But for much of his life, the medical mastermind in the family was Bristow’s father.

Growing up as the son of a prominent internist in the San Francisco Bay Area, the teenage Bristow spent summers working in his father’s office.

Dr. Lonnie R. Bristow was one of the nation’s first physicians to explore occupational health, carving out a new area of medicine through his study of asbestos exposure. As the first African American president of the American Medical Association, he launched initiatives to improve public health, encourage HIV/AIDS education and require medical schools to offer ethics classes.

“I witnessed firsthand how satisfying it was for him to practice medicine,” recalls Bristow, director of gynecologic oncology services for UC Irvine Healthcare. “People would seek him out in the grocery store to thank him for what he did for them.”

Originally, Bristow thought he would become an internist like his father. But after taking his first gross anatomy class in medical school, he decided to pursue surgery, eventually becoming one of the country’s foremost gynecologic cancer surgeons and a specialist in robotic procedures.

Robotic systems allow greater precision and more natural movements when performing minimally invasive surgery through keyhole-sized incisions. Conventional laparoscopy requires doctors to completely redirect their hand motions. To tilt the miniature camera scope up, for example, a surgeon must move his or her hand downward.

“With robotic surgery, everything is synchronized with your vision and hand motions, so it’s almost like doing surgery in a fishbowl,” says Bristow, who fully embraced the technology in 2008.

As surgeons have become more comfortable with robotics, they’re utilizing it for procedures that once required open surgery. Bristow, for instance, is using robotics to perform total hysterectomies – something doctors would never have considered five or 10 years ago. For patients, this generally means decreased pain, less blood loss, shorter hospital stays and speedier recoveries.

“The most gratifying aspect of robotic surgery is seeing patients afterward,” Bristow says. “They’ve just had a hysterectomy, and a week or two later, they’re walking around like nothing happened. They’re back to work much faster. There’s less pain and suffering than with traditional surgery. It’s just better all the way around.”

Not every patient is a candidate for robotic procedures, he points out. Those who have had major operations or are significantly overweight may still need open surgery.

Bristow has become a trailblazer like his dad, pioneering sophisticated techniques for the management of gynecologic cancers. He’s recognized internationally as a leading expert in ovarian, fallopian tube, primary peritoneal and endometrial oncology. In addition, he has published several books and numerous papers on ovarian cancer.

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The center will promote a campus culture of inclusion.

Mijiza Sanchez, UC San Francisco

UC San Francisco will establish a Multicultural Resource Center to promote a campus culture of inclusion and equity, cultural competency and interprofessional collaboration, as well as support the recruitment and retention of diverse faculty, staff, students and trainees.

Recently named director of the new center, Mijiza Sanchez envisions it being a warm, welcoming space that will serve as a bridge to the entire campus community when it opens this fall.

But first she has to find the place.

“It’s the very first thing on my agenda,” said Sanchez, M.P.A., whose appointment became official on Aug. 1.

Sanchez is among the directors who report to Renee Navarro, M.D., Pharm.D., who as vice chancellor of diversity and outreach leads the newly formed Office of Diversity and Outreach.

“The mission of the Office of Diversity and Outreach is to build a broadly diverse faculty, student and staff community, to nurture a climate that is welcoming and supportive, and to engage diverse ideas for the provision of culturally competent education, discovery and patient care,” Navarro said.

For the past six months, Navarro has worked to establish a centralized office of Diversity and Outreach to “bolster and foster collaboration, improve our effectiveness and serve as a cornerstone for cultural transformation on our campus. With a unified approach, we will coordinate and assess diversity activities on campus and identify areas of need so that we may continue diversity training and accountability measures,” she said in an email to the UCSF community.

With that in mind, the following units have been integrated within the Office of Diversity and Outreach:

• Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity, led by director Michael Adams
• Center for LGBT Health and Equity, led by director Shane Snowdon
• Sexual Harassment Prevention and Resolution, led by director Joyce Hammel
• University Community Partnerships, led by co-directors Wylie Liu and Naomi Wortis, M.D., associate clinical professor of the Department of Family and Community Medicine.

Renee Navarro, UC San Francisco

The Multicultural Resource Center, to be based on the Parnassus campus, will offer support services for the UCSF community. In her role as director, Sanchez will chair a task force with broad representation from across the university to determine its function and scope.

UCSF will host a celebration in October, which is Diversity Awareness Month, to pay homage to supporters of diversity efforts and to the students whose quest for such a center began years ago.

“They were multi-ethnic, multicultural and — in many instances — the first generation in their families to go to college and attend grad school,” Sanchez said. “We honor the unique needs of our multicultural students and we’re committed to providing students from diverse backgrounds the resources they need as well as a safe space where they can interact with staff who have the expertise to support them.”  They often require special resources and a place they can go to where people understand their struggles.

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Funds to help 70% of UCSF’s professional students.

UC San Francisco students on financial aid can breathe easier after university officials identified nearly $2 million to offset the recent statewide tuition hikes.

The UC Board of Regents on July 14 approved a 9.6 percent tuition increase that, together with a previously approved 8 percent hike, will cover approximately a quarter of the $1 billion shortfall resulting from a state funding cut of $650 million and more than $350 million in additional mandatory costs. That brings the total tuition increase to $1,068 per UCSF student for the 2011-12 academic year.

UC President Mark G. Yudof issued a letter [PDF] to students and parents about the tuition increases.

“UCSF strives to recruit and retain the most talented and diverse students,” said Joseph Castro, Ph.D., vice chancellor for student academic affairs. “We recognize that the most recent tuition increase will create a hardship for many of our students, especially those who are struggling financially during this economic downturn, so we have secured funds to help offset some of those costs.”

In an effort to alleviate the burden of rising fees, UCSF has increased financial support 4 percent since 2009, while grant and fellowship funds have increased 7 percent. Private support for education at UCSF, including for student aid, increased by 29 percent, to $26 million, according to Castro.

However, increasingly prospective students are being offered more financial aid from private institutions as well as guarantees that costs will not rise over their years in medical school.

And while UCSF remains one of the most diverse medical schools in the UC system and the most diverse public medical school in the state, progress on achieving a diverse student body has been slowed by steadily rising costs and intense national competition for such students. In fact, a recent survey by the UCSF School of Medicine of admitted students who enrolled elsewhere found more than 60 percent of underrepresented students said that insufficient financial support was the primary reason for their decision not to choose UCSF.

“I think it’s great that UCSF is able to help the students who are most affected by the tuition increase,” said Frank Anthony Myers Jr., a second-year student in the School of Medicine. “Attending medical school is already a challenge without additional financial burdens.”

“The UC system is very special to me and I know that many other students feel the same but the tuition increases and budget cuts hurt,” said Josh Biddle, a UCSF medical student and president of the Associated Students of the University of California. “I appreciate that UCSF has found a way to cover the current tuition increase for those of us who receive full financial aid, and I hope that they will continue to stand with us as we fight for the excellent and affordable education that has always been the hallmark of the UC system.”

The funds will cover the total tuition increase for any students eligible for full financial aid funding. Approximately 70 percent of the university’s 1,500 professional students qualify, according to Castro. Tuition offsets are coming from a number of sources across campus, including financial aid funds that had been set aside in anticipation of an expected mid-year fee increase, in January, that did not occur, he said.

Additionally, the Graduate Division will be covering the increase in tuition for all graduate students receiving fellowship support as well as any graduate student who is eligible for full financial aid funding.

UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann, M.D., M.P.H., has cited increases in student fees as the principal factor in UCSF’s decision to launch its first comprehensive fundraising effort in support of education, according to John Plotts, senior vice chancellor of finance and administration.

The chancellor and her husband, Nicholas Hellmann, M.D., have helped kick off this philanthropic effort with a $1 million challenge gift, providing $250,000 matches for each of UCSF’s four professional schools, Plotts said in a July 14 email the UCSF community. As the schools secure matching donors, this will create four separate $500,000 chancellor’s endowed scholarship funds — the first of their kind at UCSF. Details of the educational fundraising initiative will be forthcoming this fall.

UC Berkeley’s John Matsui named a diversity champion for his work with the Biology Scholars Program. UCLA’s Charles Alexander is also honored.

John Matsui, UC Berkeley

For first-generation college students, the University of California, Berkeley, can be daunting.

Even more overwhelming is the cutthroat coursework required of students who are science majors, said John Matsui. When he first came to UC Berkeley’s Student Learning Center 20 years ago, it was basically sink or swim in biology classes, he added, and many students who were the first in their family to attend college sank.

“These students had the same aspirations and motivation as other students, but their experience and sometimes different treatment made them question whether they could do science, and even whether Berkeley had made a mistake in admitting them,” said Matsui, himself a first-generation college student who grew up in West Berkeley.

The campus’ Biology Scholars Program, which Matsui co-founded in 1992, has given low-income, first-generation college students – many of them women and underrepresented minorities – a lifeline. Between 2004 and 2010, 83 percent of students in the program who applied to medical school were accepted, versus 55 percent of the general student body. Biology Scholars Program students graduated with equivalent or higher GPAs.

In recognition of nearly two decades of mentoring successful biology students, Matsui now holds the title of “Champion of Health Professions Diversity,” an award bestowed by The California Wellness Foundation this year to three leaders in higher education. Matsui and his fellow awardees – Charles J. Alexander of UCLA and José Ramón Fernández-Peña of City College of San Francisco and San Francisco State University – were honored at a ceremony on June 1 in Los Angeles.

[Related: UC medical schools increase student diversity]

“The changing demographics of our state and the current shortage of health workers underscore the need to prioritize efforts that enable young people and foreign-trained health professionals to obtain careers in health care,” said Wellness Foundation president and CEO Gary L. Yates in announcing the awards in early May. “These leaders have advanced model programs and policies based in higher education settings that support students on a path toward health professions.”

Matsui’s goal was to level the playing field for undergraduate students from diverse social, cultural and economic backgrounds to help them succeed in the biological sciences and go on to graduate work or medical school.

“Universities like UC Berkeley are set up in a way that best reaches those who have a background that has been historically successful,” said Matsui, assistant dean for biological sciences in the College of Letters and Science. “I was looking to fill the gaps, to create support services that were not here at Berkeley in order to better serve the students who no one really expected to survive in higher education. I saw a lot of talent being wasted, so, like Billy Beane of the Oakland Athletics, I went looking for that undervalued talent – students with the potential to be scholars.”

Thanks to Matsui and funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, programs similar to the Berkeley Scholars Program have been established at 11 other colleges around the country, including UC San Diego, UC Riverside, the universities of Washington, Texas and Arizona, and small colleges such as Occidental in Los Angeles and Towson in Maryland.

“When I got the phone call about this (award), I started crying,” Matsui said. “I am honored.”

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UC Davis’ Darin Latimore is named president-elect of the California Chapter of the American College of Physicians Services.

Darin Latimore, UC Davis

Darin Latimore, assistant dean for student and resident diversity at UC Davis Health System, has been elected president of California Chapter of the American College of Physicians Services (Cal-ACP). His term as president-elect began in April 2011, and his two-year term as president begins in April 2012.

Cal-ACP is the advocacy arm of the California American College of Physicians, which includes more than 11,000 members from the four California chapters. Cal-ACP supports efforts that improve the quality and effectiveness of health care and foster excellence and professionalism in the practice of internal medicine. The organization also keeps members up-to-date on state legislative activities; provides opportunities for physicians to become involved in issues of importance to medical students, internists and patients; and encourages members to make a difference by submitting resolutions to the ACP Board of Governors and the California Medical Association.

“I am honored to serve as president of this dynamic organization and am eager to work with the board of directors to develop a strong legislative and advocacy agenda for the next few years,” said Latimore. “As California passes laws and develops regulations to implement the Affordable Care Act, it will become increasingly important to have internal medicine physicians participating in discussions at the Capitol and the California Medical Association that affect our specialty and the patients we serve.”

Latimore is a 1994 graduate of the UC Davis School of Medicine who practiced general medicine in the Kaiser Permanente system in south Sacramento and cared for patients with HIV/AIDS for more than 10 years. He returned to UC Davis in 2008 as the school’s first director of student diversity — a new position established to advance partnerships in the community and produce a more diverse student body and physician workforce for California. As assistant dean, he works closely with health system leadership to establish inclusive student and resident communities, and develop programs to advance recruitment, retention, training and community service.

Latimore has been an active member of the Cal-ACP board and Health and Public Policy Committee for more than 10 years. He has served as the Cal-ACP representative to the California Medical Association’s annual House of Delegates meeting since 2000 and treasurer of the Specialty Society Delegation Executive Committee since 2009. He has also participated in the annual Council on Legislation.

The American College of Physicians is the largest medical specialty organization and the second-largest physician group in the United States. ACP members include 130,000 internal medicine physicians (internists), related subspecialists and medical students. Internists specialize in the prevention, detection and treatment of illness in adults. Headquartered in Philadelphia, Pa., the American College of Physicians acts locally through its state chapters and regions. In California, there are four ACP chapters, one for the Northern California region and three for Southern California.

The UC Davis School of Medicine is among the nation’s leading medical schools, recognized for its research and primary-care programs. The school offers fully accredited master’s degree programs in public health and in informatics, and its combined M.D.-Ph.D. program is training the next generation of physician-scientists to conduct high-impact research and translate discoveries into better clinical care. Along with being a recognized leader in medical research, the school is committed to serving underserved communities and advancing rural health. For more information, visit UC Davis School of Medicine at medschool.ucdavis.edu.

Inside UCSF event draws diverse undergraduate students from across California.

A diverse group of undergraduate students from across the state visited UCSF last weekend to become inspired about future careers in health sciences.

The UCSF schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy and the Graduate Division hosted the students as part of the annual outreach program “Inside UCSF.”  The exciting and informative event is designed to give students at two- and four-year universities an in-depth introduction to a specific health science career path and a chance to meet current students.

Part of its ongoing efforts to serve the community and nurture diversity, UCSF covers the cost of meals, materials and travel for all participants, as well as accommodations for those from outside the Bay Area. The event is designed to encourage young people to purse higher education and careers in life sciences and health professions.

“Inside UCSF is our signature outreach event on this campus. Our mission at UCSF is advancing health worldwide and we want to do that with a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion,” said Renee Navarro, M.D., Pharm.D., vice chancellor of diversity and outreach in her keynote address to the students.

“The country continues to lack underrepresented minorities in health care professions,” said Navarro. “As health care providers we’re challenged with caring for a diverse group of people, and we need a diverse group of providers. We need you to help us solve the persistent issues of health inequity in this country.”

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Stars encourage Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander youth to get fit in event at UCLA.

More than 500 kids turned the campus their playground last Saturday, April, 2, during Hawaiian Pacific Islander Youth Health and Fitness Day.

The event featured an assortment of physical activities, a healthy food village and free routine health checkups — all part of a White House initiative to reach out to the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities, which are experiencing alarming rates of obesity and weight gain.

On hand to keep the kids moving were television’s toughest personal trainer, Jillian Michaels, as well as Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Marcus McNeill of the San Diego Chargers and other professional athletes. UCLA Recreation helped stage the event along with student organizations PISA (Pacific Islands’ Student Association) and FITTED (Fitness Improvement through Training and Diet).

For more information, see this UCLA Today story.

April 2 event aimed at improving fitness of Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander youths.

An initiative by the White House to reach out to two communities that are experiencing alarming rates of obesity and weight gain — Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders — will play out Saturday, April 2, in an all-day event at UCLA devoted to improving the health and fitness of youths.

More than 500 participating Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) youths will be motivated to get healthy by television’s toughest personal trainer Jillian Michaels, Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburg Steelers, Marcus McNeill of the San Diego Chargers and other professional athletes, along with members of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, part of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

The event will feature physical activity stations run by college athletes; speakers and presentations; a healthy food village where chefs and dieticians will suggest how to make cultural dishes more nutritious; and a station where participants can receive routine health checkups.

Helping organizers stage the event are UCLA Recreation and two campus student organizations. “We are excited and honored to be partnering with our student organizations PISA (Pacific Islands’ Student Association) and FITTED (Fitness Improvement through Training and Diet) to host the Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Youth Health and Fitness Day this Saturday,” said Michael Deluca, director of Cultural and Recreational Affairs.

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California’s aging LGB population is set to double in next 20 years.

Members of California’s aging lesbian, gay and bisexual population are more likely to suffer from certain chronic conditions, even as they wrestle with the challenges of living alone in far higher numbers than the heterosexual population, according to new policy brief from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

Half of all gay and bisexual adult men in California between the ages of 50 and 70 are living alone, compared with 13.4 percent of heterosexual men in the same age group. And although older California lesbians and bisexual women are more likely to live with a partner or a family member than their male counterparts, more than one in four live alone, compared with one in five heterosexual women.

A lack of immediate family support may impact aging LGB adults’ ability to confront statistically higher rates of diabetes, hypertension, poor mental health, physical disability and self-assessed fair or poor health, compared with demographically similar aging heterosexual adults.

The study, which draws upon three cycles of data from the biennial California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), underscores the importance of considering these unique needs and chronic health conditions in providing health care and social services to the estimated 170,000 self-identified aging LGB adults in California — a population that will double in size over the next 20 years.

“Many aging LGB Californians do not have biological children or strong family support,” said Steven P. Wallace, the lead researcher on the project. “Organizations that serve these communities need to take this into account and consider outreach and support mechanisms that enable these individuals to maintain their independence and ability to age safely and in good health.”

The policy brief, “The Health of Aging Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Adults in California,” includes the first data published on aging LGB adults based on a large statewide population. And among a population whose health needs are too often associated only with HIV and AIDS, the study offers the first insights about broader health conditions and trends.

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Event to be held April 1-2.

UC Irvine’s Latino Medical Student Association chapter will host the sixth annual national LMSA conference April 1 and 2 at the UCI Student Center, marking the first time the event will be held at a West Coast campus. This year’s meeting is themed “Uniting Our Voices for Justice in Healthcare” and is intended to bring together Latino high school students, premed students, medical students, graduating physicians, residents and practicing doctors interested in the health care of their community. The conference will include a series of workshops on the health care needs of the Latino community, student leadership training and health care policy. More than 1,000 people are expected to attend the event, which will feature about 50 medical school exhibitors and 50 residency program exhibitors.

For more information, view the conference website.

Commission gives UCSF high marks for collaboration and diversity.

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) has reaffirmed UCSF’s accreditation across all four schools and the graduate division, citing the commission’s confidence in UCSF’s capacity to continue achieving its goals for student success into the future.

UCSF earned the maximum period of time — 10 years — until its next review by WASC’s Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities. Accreditation by the nonprofit association reflects UCSF’s rigorous standards of quality, capacity and effectiveness in its mission, including a special focus on enhancing diversity initiatives, improving education facilities and fostering collaborative education.

“This validates UCSF’s efforts to make each of its schools a top leader in training the next generation of health care professionals,” said UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann, M.D., MPH. “I was particularly pleased that the commission noted the galvanizing effect of our new Teaching and Learning Center on helping UCSF become the best place for clinical teams to learn together.”

[Related: UCSF students echo conclusions of WASC accreditation report; Teaching and Learning Center video]

The technology-rich Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) — which opened in February as host to a state-of-the-art clinical skills simulation lab — was cited by the WASC commission as proof of UCSF’s commitment to increasing the quality of its interdisciplinary learning environments.

The WASC commission also praised the university for campuswide collaboration, citing the learning center and grant programs that require integrated efforts across UCSF’s four professional schools — dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy. Collaboration was especially evident, according to the report, throughout the self-evaluation process led by the WASC Steering Committee and co-chaired by Joseph Castro, associate vice chancellor of student academic affairs, and Sally Marshall, vice provost of academic affairs.

“As they looked at UCSF, they didn’t see four separate professional schools and a graduate division,” Castro said. “They found one exceptionally strong health sciences campus that provides a quality education.”

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