Charles R. Drew University Joins Los Angeles Expansion of California Medicine Scholars Program
CDU has been selected to lead one of three new Regional Hubs of Healthcare Opportunity (RHHO) through the California Medicine Scholars Program (CMSP).
The statewide expansion includes two hubs in Los Angeles and one in the Bay Area, with the remaining hubs led by the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and Chabot College.
As a part of the partnership, CDU was awarded $100,000 to establish the CMSP Health Excellence and Access Leaders, Los Angeles (CMSP HEAL-LA) pilot program. Bringing together community stakeholders to create a structured pathway that supports community college students through transfer to a four-year institution and into CDU’s College of Medicine or another RHHO participating medical school. Throughout their journey, students will receive academic advising, mentorship, clinical exposure, internships, volunteer opportunities, and other experiences that prepare them for medical school and careers in healthcare.
“This expansion marks an exciting step toward ensuring more students in Los Angeles and the Bay Area can see a clear and supported path to becoming physicians,” said Kaitlin Jackson, director of the California Medicine Scholars Program. “By bringing together community colleges, universities, medical schools, healthcare providers, and community organizations, these new regional hubs will help students build the skills, experience, and relationships they need to succeed. Just as importantly, they will strengthen the physician workforce in communities where culturally responsive care is needed most.”
“CDU was founded sixty years ago because South Los Angeles deserved better access to healthcare and education,” said Keosha Partlow, PhD, MPH, Vice Provost of Student Affairs, CDU and Interim Associate Dean of Student Affairs, CDU College of Medicine. “The CMSP is an example of how we continue to carry that legacy forward through our commitment to ensuring that students who grow up in our communities have a clear, supported, and real pathway to becoming the physicians their communities need most.”
Located in Service Planning Area (SPA) 6, the most medically underserved sub-region of Los Angeles County, CDU is uniquely positioned to help address California’s physician shortage while broadening representation in the healthcare workforce. Through CMSP HEAL-LA, the University will serve students across five Los Angeles County service planning areas, including SPA 6 (South), SPA 8 (South Bay), SPA 7 (East), SPA 3 (San Gabriel Valley), and SPA 1 (Antelope Valley).
CMSP, a program of the Foundation for California Community Colleges launched in 2022, was established to address the State’s growing shortages in healthcare. With this expansion, the program now spans 56 California Community Colleges, 23 four-year universities and medical schools, and 42 community-based health organizations. Its long-term vision is to build a statewide physician pathway infrastructure that ensures students from every region of California have access to the support and opportunities needed to pursue careers in medicine.
By expanding pathways into medicine for students from underserved communities, CDU continues the commitment established by its founders six decades ago to address disparities in healthcare through cultivating healthcare professionals committed to serving communities that have historically faced barriers to care.