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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A range of family-friendly policies and programs are available.

Women in the science pipeline that takes them from a Ph.D. to a tenure-track job at a college or university are too often diverted from their goal by the responsibilities of marriage and motherhood.

This “leak” in the pipeline has been studied by a number of researchers, including three UC Berkeley social scientists who found that women in the sciences who are married with children are 35 percent less likely to enter a tenure-track position after receiving a Ph.D. than married men with children — and 27 percent less likely than their male counterparts to achieve tenure.

But single women without children are just as successful as men with children to get that tenure-track job, and a little more successful in achieving tenure than married women with children.

The irony is that more women than ever are entering that pipeline to get their Ph.D.s in the physical sciences, engineering and especially in the life sciences, where women are now receiving more half of all the Ph.D.s awarded.

Statistics tell the story of unrealized potential. To seal the leak and help women early in their academic careers balance work and parenting, UCLA offers a range of family-friendly policies and programs that are available throughout the UC system. Last year, the Office of Faculty Diversity and Development added two new grants that are only available at UCLA to female postdoctoral scholars and faculty in the sciences, health and technology.

A New Scholars grant for $97,500 was awarded last year from the Elsevier Foundation, funded by the leading global publisher of scientific, technical, and medical information products and services. The grant was won by professor Rosina Becerra, who formerly headed the Office for Faculty Diversity and Development, and Associate Dean M. Belinda Tucker of the Graduate Division.

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UC San Diego recognizes 25 individuals, departments, units.

(From left) Sanrda Daley, Eduardo Fricovsky, Marye Anne Fox, UC San Diego

The first time Eduardo Fricovsky came in contact with UC San Diego, he was a ninth-grader coming from a neighborhood where violence and drug use were common occurrences. Fast forward a few decades and Fricovsky is now a faculty member at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, mentoring a diverse student population. He also volunteers at UCSD’s Student-Run Free Clinic Project, which serves a diverse population.

“I owe so much to this campus,” Fricovsky said at the 16th Annual Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action and Diversity Awards Ceremony held Tuesday at the Price Center.

He was one of 17 individuals and eight departments, organizations and units recognized for their outstanding contributions in support of UCSD’s commitment to diversity and understanding of other cultures.

“Diversity is fundamental to our mission and it is a fundamental part of our excellence,” Chancellor Marye Anne Fox said Tuesday.

This year’s ceremony is all the more special that it coincides with the campus’ 50th anniversary, celebrating achieving the extraordinary—exactly what the award recipients have been doing. Fox said.  “I know each one of you knows how important diversity is to UC San Diego,” she told the audience. “In fact, nothing is more important to me.”

The award winners come from a wide range of disciplines, Fox also said. Some helped heal racial tensions last year. Others reached out to underserved populations on campus and beyond. Others forged partnerships to help the university and the community. Fricovsky brings together many of these achievements.

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>>Sidebar: Attracting diversity across health professions
>>Motion graphic: California medical school first-year enrollments of underrepresented minorities

By Alec Rosenberg

Crystal Denmon

Crystal Denmon was raised by a single parent in South Los Angeles, where gangs were common and graduating from high school was not. Starting in second grade, she woke up at 5:30 a.m. to catch the bus that took her an hour across town to school, where she was often the only African-American student in her class. Denmon overcame the odds and made it to UCLA, where she participated in community health projects and earned a degree in psychobiology.

But when Denmon applied to medical schools, she didn’t get in. Determined to become a doctor, she is getting a second chance as a postbaccalaureate student at UC Davis. The yearlong program helps promising students from disadvantaged backgrounds get into and succeed in medical school.

“I’ll be a more competitive applicant,” said Denmon, who hopes to attend a University of California medical school and practice primary care in Los Angeles. “Being around like-minded individuals who share similar interests and professional goals keeps me motivated to pursue my dreams of becoming a pediatrician.”

UC has increased student diversity at its medical schools aided by its postbaccalaureate programs and a spectrum of other efforts targeting everyone from middle and high school pupils to undergraduate, graduate and professional students. Among first-year students at UC medical schools, underrepresented minorities have increased to 23 percent of students this year, up from 14 percent in 2001 and outpacing California’s private medical schools and the national average.

“What we’ve been able to do is exemplary,” said Dr. John Stobo, UC senior vice president for health sciences and services. “Diversity is critically important. We can’t educate, deliver health care and do research that advances the health of a diverse population if we don’t have a diverse work force.”

UC issued a special report in 2000 on medical student diversity after a seven-year downward trend in underrepresented minority enrollment at its medical schools. The report prompted action that continues today, though gains are threatened by a lack of funding.

UC can’t consider race or gender in admissions because of Proposition 209, which California voters passed in 1996, but UC does have programs aimed at students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and those tend to include Latinos, African Americans and other underrepresented minorities. Since 2000, UC has expanded its postbaccalaureate and undergraduate science scholars programs. In 2004, UC launched the systemwide Programs in Medical Education (PRIME), training physician leaders to meet the needs of California’s underserved populations in rural and urban communities. PRIME enrollment has grown to about 250 students, a majority of whom are underrepresented minorities. A sixth PRIME program — UC Merced San Joaquin Valley — opens this year.

UC Postbaccalaureate Consortium

Postbaccalaureate premedical programs are for dedicated students who didn’t get accepted to a medical school or didn’t apply because they didn’t have quite high enough GPAs or MCAT scores and faced disadvantages such as coming from low-performing K-12 schools, lacking mentors or working long hours in college. Each program provides intensive summer MCAT preparation, workshops on learning skills, enrollment in upper division science courses and guidance through the medical school application process. By strengthening their MCAT scores and grades in premed courses, students become more competitive applicants to medical school.

More than 80 percent of UC postbaccalaureate students get into a medical school — so far that’s more than 800 students, 73 percent of whom are underrepresented minorities. “These programs are very effective,” said James Forkin, director of the UC Postbaccalaureate Consortium.

UC formed the consortium — the nation’s only one — in 2006, with funding from The California Endowment, a private health foundation. The consortium created a central office, which manages a joint online application, making it easier to apply; and a central database, making it easier to track data on program participants. These efforts have helped to raise the programs’ profile, said Forkin, who is based at UC Davis.

The consortium not only has boosted postbaccalaureate applications, it has helped bring students to the attention of UC admission officers. Since the consortium formed, the rate of UC postbaccalaureate students accepted to UC medical schools has risen from 40 percent to 65 percent. Students also move on to California private medical schools and out-of-state medical schools.

UC also initiated a national collaborative of about 20 postbaccalaureate premedical programs to share information and engage in joint advocacy. The postbaccalaureate programs’ future is precarious. UC has received a California Wellness Foundation grant to keep the consortium’s central office open for now, but is seeking more funding because The California Endowment grant is ending. “It’s very likely that some of these programs will close down or reduce their numbers if additional support is not found,” Forkin said.

Fabian Alberto

That would be bad news for people such as Fabian Alberto, who grew up in Soledad in Monterey County. Alberto’s parents worked as migrant farmworkers, and Alberto joined his dad working summers in the fields. Many peers lacked access to health care.

As an undergrad, Alberto majored in history at UCLA. But he dreamed of providing medicine to underserved populations. He served as a surgical tech at UCLA, participated in medical missions to Peru and was a community organizer in Soledad, helping migrants with health issues. Now a UC Davis postbaccalaureate student, Alberto hopes to attend a UC medical school and practice primary care in a rural community.

“Even a history major can really excel in medicine,” Alberto said.

Conditional acceptance programs

UC San Diego and UC Irvine also offer a special type of postbaccalaureate, a conditional acceptance program. Students who complete the program successfully are admitted to medical school. UC San Diego’s program, supported by a National Institutes of Health endowment, includes rigorous courses, advising and participation in the Student-Run Free Clinic Project. Students must maintain a 3.5 GPA.

“We set high standards and the students have met them,” said Dr. Carolyn Kelly, associate dean for admissions and student affairs at the UC San Diego School of Medicine. “The students do very well in medical school with the additional academic preparation. They graduate from medical school. They go on to residency training programs.”

The conditional acceptance program, which accepts four or five students a year, complements other efforts such as PRIME, the regular postbaccalaureate, UniversityLink for community college students and the Health Careers Opportunity Program for disadvantaged teens, Kelly said.

Diversity is a priority, Kelly said. “We still have a long way to go,” she said, noting that 45 percent of Californians are underrepresented minorities. “We’re trying. I think we’re making progress.”

UC Irvine’s conditional acceptance program accepts four students a year — disadvantaged students who are “gems,” said Ellena Peterson, associate dean for admissions and outreach at Irvine’s medical school. One of the former conditional students, now a third-year medical student, described the yearlong program as “medical school with training wheels,” she said.

“It builds self-confidence,” Peterson said.

Irvine, which had UC’s first PRIME and postbaccalaureate programs, may extend the postbaccalaureate program into a second summer, with MCAT preparation at the end instead of the beginning. By then, students have gained a full year of coursework leading to a solid academic foundation and have built a learning community with their peers.

“Some of these students have tried and tried in isolation,” Peterson said. “In the postbac year they find that there is strength in their peer support system.”

Working together

“It’s not one effort,” said Dr. Neil Parker, senior associate dean for student affairs and graduate medical education at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine. “It really is the whole consortium of things.”

For example, UCLA medical students run health fairs in disadvantaged communities, such as the mostly Latino Lennox School District. “The young kids start seeing people who look like them and start thinking, ‘Gee, I can go to medical school.’ The pipeline needs to go way back to K-12,” Parker said.

UCLA also has nurtured diversity through partnerships with UC Riverside and Charles Drew University, a South Los Angeles institution that serves underserved communities. UC, which educates 3 of 5 medical students in California, seeks diversity in its broadest sense — students from different economic backgrounds, geographic locations and life experiences.

“Medical schools are not just looking at GPA and MCAT scores,” Parker said. “We want a physician or dentist who looks like the face of the California we serve.”

Another outgrowth of the 2000 diversity report is a committee of all California medical school — public and private — admission deans that meets twice a year. The deans have made increasing diversity a statewide priority. “We should be all working together to bring more students to California,” Parker said.

Blue-collar scholars

UC Berkeley’s Valley Life Sciences Building is known for its 40-foot T-Rex skeleton, but tucked away in tiny 2018 VLSB, hundreds of underrepresented undergrads have found a second home.

This is headquarters for the Biology Scholars Program, where students receive comprehensive, tailored support, preparing them for medical school or other science careers. “BSP allowed me to hold onto a dream,” said alum Kessy Gbenedio, a BSP coordinator applying to medical school. Alum Griselda Velasquez, now a BSP adviser, plans to apply to medical school next year. “Students that come from low-income backgrounds … can succeed in science,” Velasquez said.

Among underrepresented minority BSP students, more than 90 percent who apply to medical schools get accepted. Since 2004, 95 underrepresented minority BSP students have enrolled in medical school — 70 of them at UC.

“We’re kind of like the Oakland A’s,” Program Director John Matsui said. “You take undervalued players that nobody wants and they wind up being the players the New York Yankees want. We’re the blue-collar program. Our students go off to Harvard, UCLA and Stanford.”

Matsui co-founded BSP in 1992 to address institutional gaps – leveling the playing field for disadvantaged students, who receive advising, mentoring and tutoring to help graduate on par with other biology majors.

“Our approach is very individualized and personalized … we’re almost like personal trainers,” Matsui said. “We don’t lower the bar. We ramp students up to become competitively eligible.”

BSP enrollment has fallen to 570 this year from 884 two years ago because of funding issues. While new NIH grants will help, larger grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation are ending. Still, BSP’s impact is spreading. As part of the Moore grant, Matsui has helped start about 20 similar programs, including ones at UC Riverside and UC San Diego.

Neal Schiller, director of UC Riverside’s Medical Scholars Program, credits Matsui’s mentorship, a personalized student advising approach and student leadership with MSP’s success. The program, headquartered in a triple-wide trailer, provides academic, personal and professional development support for disadvantaged students in the sciences. It has grown from 15 students in 2004 to 250 in 2010. Students serve as peer mentors, academic coaches and have launched a newsletter.

“They are so motivated,” Schiller said. “They are so committed. Their willingness to give back is so inspirational.”

Riverside, scheduled to open its own medical school in 2012, is one of the nation’s most diverse universities. MSP reflects that diversity. Among MSP alumni, more than 85 percent graduated with science degrees, with more than 54 percent of them being underrepresented minority students.

However, MSP may limit the number of summer research internships as key funding is ending from The California Endowment and Howard Hughes Medical Institute. “Funding is always an issue,” Schiller said.

‘The right approach’

At UCSF, diversity starts with leadership and continues with faculty and students, Dr. Alma Martinez said. She directs the UCSF School of Medicine’s Office of Outreach, created four years ago to target students interested in health careers. “We’re looking for a big variety of students,” Martinez said.

It begins early. Doctors Academy, started by UCSF Fresno Dr. Katherine Flores, prepares disadvantaged Fresno County high school students for college and for health science careers. In San Francisco, UCSF students run MedLink, which promotes diversity in health professions to underserved high school students.

For undergraduates, UCSF arranges visits to UC Berkeley, San Francisco State University and California State University, East Bay, meeting with postbaccalaureate students and promoting PRIME.

Martinez noted that 94 percent of UCSF postbaccalaureate students are accepted to medical schools. While some go out of state, most return to California for residencies and many practice in underserved communities. The UC Postbaccalaureate Consortium “is the right approach,” Martinez said. “It’s relatively inexpensive. It’s a great way to increase diversity. We have evidence that it really works. Yet a program like this might die out if we can’t find funding.”

UC Davis postbaccalaureate student Susana Torres said the most valuable part is the support provided by the program and its participants. “Someone once said if one of us doesn’t make it to medical school, we all have failed,” Torres said. “We’re all here to see each other succeed.”

Alec Rosenberg is the health communications coordinator in the UC Office of the President’s Integrated Communications group.

UCSF’s Carmen Peralta is honored for her work in the field of racial and ethnic differences in kidney disease detection, progression and complications.

Carmen A. Peralta, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Nephrology at the UCSF School of Medicine, was recognized recently with a 2010 Nickens Faculty Fellowship.

Peralta is also a researcher at the UCSF-affiliated San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) awarded several of the Herbert W. Nickens Fellowships during the AAMC Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., in November. The awards honor individuals who assist medical schools to achieve their diversity objectives and work to eliminate health care disparities.

The Herbert W. Nickens Faculty Fellowship is presented to an outstanding junior faculty member who has demonstrated leadership in the United States in addressing inequities in medical education and health care; who has made efforts to address the educational, societal and health care needs of minorities; and who is committed to a career in academic medicine.

Peralta received her award in recognition of her outstanding work in the field of racial and ethnic differences in kidney disease detection, progression and complications.

Peralta received her MD degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She then pursued training in internal medicine at Harvard Medical School’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She completed nephrology training at UCSF.

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Unique UC Irvine course empowers students to tackle culturally based health care disparities.

Biological Sciences 92 may only be a one-unit, pass/not pass course that requires no homework, but for future doctors like Kathy Vo, it’s pivotal.

“Disparities in Medicine” addresses diversity – specifically, how health care workers can embrace patients’ distinctive cultural beliefs, languages and faiths to provide better care.

“This is different from all my other bio sci courses,” says senior Vo before the first meeting of the Wednesday night class. “It’s about interacting with people, a more hands-on approach to medicine that can teach me a lot about what it takes to be a doctor someday.”

The winter-quarter course welcomes anyone — enrolled at UC Irvine or not — who wants to learn more about the topic and regularly draws more than 100 students.

It’s the only undergraduate class of its kind in the nation, says Prany Sananikone, director of diversity relations & educational programs in UCI’s Office of Equal Opportunity & Diversity. He came up with the concept about 10 years ago, starting with student workshops, and remains one of four Bio Sci 92 directors.

“A course like this, which examines many different cultural and disparity issues, is needed more than ever before,” Sananikone says. “Like much of the U.S., Orange County is very diverse, and by raising awareness of our diversity, we hope to address the health care disparities that affect different cultural groups in this country and around the world.”

Although he created “Disparities in Medicine,” it’s managed by 10 student coordinators who took the class the previous year. They determine the weekly topics, which range from African American health and international medicine to Latino health and health care reform. Each lecture is given by a top expert in that field.

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Renee Navarro will develop a strategic plan for diversity and inclusion on campus and in recruitment and retention.

Renee Navarro, UC San Francisco

UC San Francisco has appointed an exceptional physician and campus leader in the health sciences as its first vice chancellor of diversity and outreach, charged with creating and maintaining a diverse university environment where everyone has an opportunity to excel. The appointment of Jerolyn [Renee] Chapman Navarro, PharmD, M.D., as UCSF vice chancellor was officially announced today (Dec. 2) following approval by the UC Board of Regents.

In her new role, Navarro will collaborate with faculty, staff and students to develop and carry out a strategic plan for diversity and inclusion at the campus — and in recruitment and retention of faculty, students, trainees and staff.

The appointment is effective immediately, according to UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann, M.D., MPH, who noted that Navarro will serve on the chancellor’s executive cabinet and report directly to her. The cabinet seat underscores how important UCSF considers this diversity initiative.

“Dr. Navarro is already a campus leader in academic and diversity programs, and her insight and dedication have helped UCSF remain at the forefront of these issues,” Desmond-Hellmann said. “Creating a diverse and inclusive environment in which everyone has the opportunity to excel is important to this university and the reason why we felt it imperative to create this leadership position. The breadth of diversity initiatives here on campus is a testament to the importance that the UCSF community places on creating such an environment.”

As vice chancellor of diversity and outreach, Navarro will work closely with other senior administrators to address issues of diversity that cut across faculty, student, staff and operational lines. Navarro will serve as a campus expert on diversity goals, act as the campus spokeswoman for best practices, and establish and lead an advisory group.

“UCSF has a long history of diversity initiatives and I am eager to continue the forward momentum by expanding outreach, eliminating barriers and supporting equity and inclusion for all members of our campus community. A key element is fostering a campus climate that facilitates success,” said Navarro, health sciences professor in the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, associate dean of academic affairs and director of academic diversity for the UCSF Chancellor’s Office.

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Kimberlee Jackson and Monique Chambers awarded scholarships.

(Left) Kimberlee Jackson and Monique Chambers, UC Davis

A San Francisco Bay Area physicians organization, well known for its dedication to supporting the medical education of African-American students, has awarded scholarships to two students at the UC Davis School of Medicine.

Kimberlee Jackson and Monique Chambers, both second-year medical students at UC Davis, were recognized at the Sinkler Miller Medical Association’s annual Celebration and Scholarship event, held in Oakland in November. The Sinkler Miller Medical Assocaition is a nonprofit organization that aims to improve health care for African-American and other minority communities, as well as support African-American physicians working in the Bay Area. Its scholarships encourage young people to enter careers in a variety of health-related fields.

Chambers and Jackson exemplify the spirit of the Sinkler Miller awards. Chambers has organized and participated in student recruitment efforts, with an emphasis on attracting applicants from disadvantaged communities to the School of Medicine. She serves as a volunteer co-director at the Imani Clinic in Sacramento, a free community health clinic run by UC Davis students that operates on weekends and is located in a historically African-American neighborhood. Jackson also is a co-director of the clinic and has been equally active in advancing health in underserved communities. She also helped start a local chapter of the Minority Association for Pre-Medical Students and now coordinates its mentorship activities, which provide both experience and assistance for minority students who are interested in careers in medicine.

“Both students have shown a real dedication to tackling the challenges of wide disparities in health among different populations,” said Darin Latimore, director of medical student diversity at UC Davis School of Medicine. “We are delighted that the Sinkler Miller Medical Association recognized these exceptional women for their academic accomplishments and commitment to building healthy communities. The scholarships provide support that enables them to continue being terrific student role models and can inspire many other talented students to follow.”

UCSF’s medical school finished in first place with 16 percent Hispanic graduate enrollment, according to HispanicBusiness Magazine.

Sam Hawgood, UC San Francisco

The UCSF School of Medicine ranks No. 1 among U.S. medical schools in attracting Hispanic students, according to HispanicBusiness magazine.

With a total graduate enrollment of 631 students, including 102 Hispanic graduate students, UCSF’s medical school finished in first place with 16 percent Hispanic graduate enrollment, according to the September 2010 issue.

UCSF bested the medical schools at University of Miami, Baylor College of Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern, and University of Texas at Houston. Each of these schools has higher enrollment of students at their medical schools, but a smaller percentage of Hispanic medical students.

“As America begins to shrug off the deepest economic recession since the Great Depression, an educated, diverse workforce is seen as a key ingredient to global competitiveness,” the magazine’s staff writer Gary D. Fackler reported.

Each year, HispanicBusiness measures and ranks the effectiveness of the nation’s universities in attracting Hispanic students, and in providing them with the academic support they need to ensure they make the grade then make a difference,” Fackler wrote.

All universities in academic areas of business, engineering, law and medicine, were ranked in terms of Hispanic diversity using the criteria of percent of Hispanic student enrollment, percent of Hispanic faculty and progressive programs aimed at increasing enrollment of Hispanic students.

“Hispanics have been an integral part of California’s history and will soon be the majority population,” said Sam Hawgood, MBBS, dean of the UCSF School of Medicine and vice chancellor for medial affairs. “As a state institution, our mission is to train world-class physicians who mirror the diversity of the people of California and are dedicated to improve health care for all.”

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UC Davis Medical Center last week received multiple honors for promoting diversity at the 2010 National Leadership and Education Conference in Chicago.

The Institute for Diversity in Health Management hosted the conference, which honored hospitals from across the country for participating in the “State of Health Care Diversity and Disparities: A Benchmark Study of U.S. Hospitals.”

The study, the first of its kind, was designed to provide a snapshot of the hospital industry’s progress on promoting diversity, and to help hospitals assess and improve their internal diversity programs. The survey assessed diversity initiatives in four categories, and UC Davis Medical Center was recognized as “Best in Class” for its work in three of them:

• Expanding the Diversity of the Organization’s Governance Body and Leadership Team
• Strengthening a Diverse Workforce Throughout the Organization
• Delivering Culturally and Linguistically Competent Patient Care Throughout the Organization

The institute also recognized UC Davis Medical Center for employing “Promising Practices” for its work in the fourth category: Effectively Engaging the Diverse Communities That the Organization Serves.

Only 10 hospitals were honored with a “Best in Class” distinction in one of the four categories, and UC Davis Medical Center was one of only two hospitals honored with three “Best in Class” distinctions and “Promising Practices” recognition. In addition, Jared Quinton, Administrative Fellow, UC Davis Medical Center, served on a panel discussion to share best practices that promote diversity in leadership and governance at the 2010 National Leadership and Education Conference.

The survey tool used in the study was based on research included in “Strategies for Leadership,” a diversity and cultural-competency assessment tool the Institute created in conjunction with the American College of Healthcare Executives, the American Hospital Association and the National Center for Healthcare Leadership. The study also utilized recent work in the areas of culturally competent patient care, health-care disparities and leadership conducted by The Joint Commission and the National Public Health and Hospital Institute’s collaboration with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Growing up in Sacramento, Renee Navarro never saw a black physician and medical role models were scarce. When she became the first doctor in her family, she didn’t know what path to follow until a mentor suggested academia.

“He was very supportive,” said Navarro, who studied pharmacy at the University of the Pacific and medicine at UC San Francisco. “I had never even thought of it.”

Today, Navarro is a role model, the only African-American professor in UCSF’s anesthesia department. She sees hopeful signs around her that times are changing — UCSF has women in key leadership positions, from the chancellor to three of its five deans. And as director of UCSF’s academic diversity program, she works to nurture and enhance diversity among faculty, students, residents and postdoctoral scholars.

One key way to nurture diversity, Navarro said, is the UC Diversity Pipeline Initiative, where UC reaches out to some of its brightest female students to encourage them to pursue careers as faculty in the health sciences. The systemwide initiative, which had its fourth annual conference in April for 63 postgraduate students, highlights UC’s efforts to increase diversity in the health professions.

“I’m so supportive of this conference because many of the participants, while they are in professional schools, have never really thought about the possibility of becoming faculty members,” Navarro said. “Many of the women of color can’t see the pathway.”

At UC health professional schools, just 24 percent of faculty are women while only 5 percent of faculty are underrepresented minorities. The picture is similar nationwide and has changed little in two decades. But the population of UC medical school students is becoming increasingly diverse with gains in underrepresented minorities. Those gains are in part due to UC’s PRIME program aimed at training students to care for underserved communities. Increasing faculty diversity, a priority for UC leadership, is viewed as a way to attract students, advance research in areas such as health disparities and improve access to care among medically underserved populations.

[Related: Tips from the pros]

Experts say it takes multifaceted efforts and strong leadership to boost diversity. The pipeline initiative is an effective step, according to conference evaluations. Before the conference, 20 percent of participants said they were very interested in academic careers; afterward, that share grew to 46 percent. In survey responses and follow-up comments, students called the conference inspiring.

“The conference exposed me to the importance of mentorship, strength in diversity and the basic tenets of the academic environment,” wrote UCLA nursing school student Benissa Salem. “One day, my goal is to be able to mentor students, provide learning opportunities and help them to reach their goals.”

“I have a new-found confidence, a new awareness of the many opportunities that lie ahead of me,” wrote UC Berkeley optometry student Georgina Blanc. “I know that I can do research and see patients and have a family … I want to help make an impact on the next generation of students so that perhaps, someday, the little utopia I experienced at the conference could become an everyday reality.”

The deans of UC’s health professional schools at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco each selected up to five participants for the three-day conference, which covered mentoring, negotiating, networking, communicating, balancing career-life issues and pathways to academia. In his remarks at the opening dinner, UC President Mark Yudof encouraged students to pursue faculty careers and fielded questions at the conference, whose sponsors included the UCSF Center for Gender Equity, Student Activity Center and UC Office of the President.

“By staying to help train the next generation of underrepresented women, you can have an enormous impact, not only on their lives, but also on the communities that they serve,” Yudof said. “The fact is, the University of California needs you. We need you as trailblazers.”

The UCSF Center for Gender Equity organizes a biennial UC women’s leadership symposium for staff. Center director Amy Levine came up with the idea for the pipeline conference as a similar form of professional development for students.

“Women of color students don’t see a lot of role models in academia,” Levine said. “The message we’re promoting through this initiative is that UC wants them, and we’re trying to put mechanisms in place to accommodate them.”

One mechanism is mentoring: Conference participants receive mentoring for a year.

“There are internal and external barriers to women’s advancement,” Levine said. “We can address internal barriers through professional development and workshops on negotiating, communicating and networking, but to address the external barriers, it really helps to have a mentor guide you through the political process.”

UC Davis professor and Women’s Cardiovascular Medicine Program director Amparo Villablanca, who spoke on the conference’s career-life balance panel, told students it’s important to have mentors, collaborators and personal and professional development. “You can’t do it alone,” she said.

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