Local Officials Support UC-Merced Medical School
Stanislaus County is considering a partnership with the University of California-Merced in establishing a medical school, according to county CEO Rick Robinson, the Modesto Bee reports. Students who attended the proposed medical school could receive training in county health clinics.
Local government officials and physicians have expressed support for a medical school at the campus. Plans for the medical school were presented to the public on Monday, and UC officials urged community leaders to join a letter-writing campaign to state lawmakers in support of the proposal. The Legislature must approve some of the funding for the proposed $80 million project.
At the proposed school, medical students would attend academic classes for two years, and then receive training in physicians' offices, clinics and hospitals throughout the area. UC-Merced officials said they also plan to establish a biomedical research institute that would have close ties to the medical school in an effort to attract faculty.
Officials plan to present the proposal to UC officials in May or June. If the plan is rejected, supporters of the medical school said they will resubmit the idea next year (Carlson, Modesto Bee, 3/29).
There is "no time to waste" in establishing a medical school at UC-Merced because "[a]ll of the negative factors in our regional health care will continue to get worse in the five to seven years it will take for the medical school to become a reality," if it is approved by UC Regents, a Bakersfield Californian editorial states. According to the editorial, "San Joaquin Valley has been medically underserved for years" and "[t]here is also a broad economic benefit to a regional medical school" (Bakersfield Californian, 3/28).
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