Dean’ s Message
Dear COM Family, the gift of $ 75 million to CDU for our new medical school is a culmination of our hard work and a prayer answered! Not only does it validate and stabilize the work we have done over the last 8 years to create a new medical school in South Los Angeles, it sets us on solid ground for the growth ahead.
It is with gratitude that I recognize the work of President David Carlisle and SVP Angela Minniefield for their work to support and cultivate this gift. When I was told we earned the attention of Bloomberg Philanthropies and would receive this transformative gift, the first word that came to mind was WOW!
Based on the results thus far, we are pleasantly surprised and steadily confident. In Year One, the student admissions team, led by Assistant Dean Margarita Loeza, delivered 60 well-prepared students who carried the mantle as our charter class. Our new MS1 cohort has recently completed its Gateway orientation and they are just as committed to be all that we envisioned.
We are confidently preparing for the upcoming LCME survey visit because we have strong leadership, and faculty teams that are serious about being ready. Our students are impressive and amazing partners in creating the MD Program. The charter class had many successes over the summer research elective. They make us proud.
Our second class of 60 students is well-prepared, hardworking, dedicated, and as impressive as our charter class. Join me in once again thanking Dr. Loeza, the Admissions Committee, and the staff who screened 4,272 inquiries, interviewed 426 applicants, and selected an outstanding group of students in the class of 2028. So far, we have received 5,500 applicants for the class of 2029. Dean Loeza and the admissions team are back at it!
Associate Dean Regina Offodile merits kudos for her commitment to ensuring that the learning environment is a safe and nurturing experience. COM Director of Assessment & Evaluation Juan Urbano has provided the proper metrics for us to assess our challenges and triumphs in real time.
Senior Dean of Medical Education Art Gomez, leading with his calm and experienced guiding hand, has confidently assured us with canny understanding and effective feedback. Their contributions, along with many others, have been integral to the early success of this journey. Though I cannot acknowledge everyone responsible in this brief space, I sincerely thank each and every single one of you.
We also offer a generous round of thanks to MMDCON Dean Gail Washington and her energetic staff. With our need for more space as the medical school is growing, she graciously accommodated our need for a large classroom in the LSRNE building beginning with the arrival of the new cohort, during the time that the new Health Professions and Education Building that will house the medical school is being constructed. Dean Washington has been a visionary leader since she arrived on campus and this selfless cooperation is one more example.
At the same time, we are being very intentional in looking at contributing factors that ensure and stabilize our future success. In addition to the health care disparities that our mission-driven institution was founded to eradicate, we are looking very closely at the barriers faced by highly qualified low-income students to attend medical school. Given the fact that a large percentage of CDU students are financial aid recipients, we consider this circumstance a financial disparity that merits monitoring and management.
According to a study published as recently as May 2023 in the AMA’ s JAMA Network, medical school applicants reporting family income of less than $ 50,000 were 48 % less likely than applicants reporting income of $ 200,000 or greater to be accepted into an accredited MD program. The study further states that,“ socioeconomic status may influence educational and experiential opportunities that increase the chances of applying and acceptance to medical school, and differences in the availability of these opportunities may be increasing over time.” The study reinforces the call for medical education debt reform to remove potential barriers to admission among low-income applicants. 1
Reference
1. Mytien Nguyen, MS ¹; Mayur M. Desai, PhD, MPH ²; Tonya L. Fancher, MD, MPH ³; et al. Temporal Trends in Childhood Household Income Among Applicants and Matriculants to Medical School and the Likelihood of Acceptance by Income. JAMA Network, Research Letter, May 1, 2023.
JAMA. 2023; 329( 21): 1882-1884. doi: 10.1001 / jama. 2023.5654
Sincerely, Deborah Prothrow-Stith
CDU College of Medicine | PG. 5