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FACES in the News
Susan Martinez responds to recent comments made by Bill Cosby.
Mentors offer career boost
to minorities
By Alex Katz, STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - OAKLAND -- Skyline High School seniors Earnestine
and Adia Harrison may not be writing prescriptions just yet. But the twin
sisters will have a head start in the medical profession when they graduate
next month, thanks to an internship and mentoring program at Children's
Hospital Oakland, which helps minority students interested in medical
careers.
The Harrison sisters are part of the first graduating class of the hospital's
Faces for the Future program, a two and a half year-internship open to
students at six Oakland and Berkeley high schools.
Students work in various hospital departments, from the operating room
to medical records, learning basic medical practices such as reading charts
and checking vital signs. The program also offers youngsters academic
tutoring, counseling and mentoring by UC Berkeley students. Students have
to maintain a 3.3 grade point average. "They get the career exposure,
but what they really get is the personal support to get them to the next
level," said Tomàs Magaña, program co-founder and co-director. That
support "is critical in the well-being of an adolescent in our society,"
he said. Magaña, a Children's Hospital Oakland pediatrician, said the
program is designed to address the state's shortage of minority medical
professionals. Black and Hispanic doctors comprise only about 5 percent
of the physician work force in California, he said.
Of the 30 students who started in Faces for the Future as sophomores,
26 will graduate from the program this year. Sonja Washington, another
Skyline High senior, said the program confirmed her life-long desire to
become a pediatrician. Washington will attend UC Riverside next year.
Earnestine and Adia will go to USC and UC Berkeley, respectively. Adia
said the program showed her the importance of diversity in the medical
field, especially considering the number of different languages spoken
by patients. "I've been in a ton of rotations where the doctor has
been like, 'Can we bring in an interpreter?'" she said. The girls
also said the program changed their perceptions of doctors. "I realized
they care a lot more than I thought they did," Earnestine said.
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