Diversification of the Health Care and Scientific Arenas
We aim to prepare underrepresented youth, who reflect our ethnically diverse communities, for careers in all areas of the health professions and biomedical research. By actively recruiting and preparing a student pool that reflects California’s diversity, we hope to ensure a future healthcare workforce that is capable of meeting the health needs of our multiethnic communities.

Adolescent Advocacy and Health
We aim to assist local public schools in motivating and preparing underrepresented high school students for entry into college, health care/research careers and other viable employment opportunities in the healthcare industry. By addressing the specific psychosocial issues of each student via the implementation of comprehensive academic and psychosocial programs, we strive to ensure access to different support services which address the cultural, health and psychosocial needs of each student.

Securing the Pipeline
We aim to establish opportunities for the continuous support of underrepresented students as they progress through the educational process (elementary to professional), via an extensive network comprised of educational, community and medical/research partners.

Need for Greater Diversity in the Health Professions
The past several years have witnessed a dramatic reduction in the number of underrepresented minorities (African-American, Latino, Southeast Asian, and Native-American) applying to, admitted to, and graduating from California medical schools. A recent study by University of California researchers found that the state’s physicians and other health professionals – already much less racially and ethnically diverse than California’s population – are becoming even less so. According to the Greenlining Institute, projections based upon data from 1996 to 2002 suggest that it would take more than 25 years for the percentage of all minorities in the UC medical school system to equal that of the state of California.

The implications of this finding are serious. Numerous studies have shown that communities with high proportions of African-Americans and Hispanics have the lowest supply of physicians and their residents suffer the highest mortality rates. Other studies indicate that physicians from these ethnic groups are two to five times more likely than other doctors to practice in these communities. Diversity in medicine and other health professions, thus, is an urgent public health issue directly affecting access to care for the state’s most needy communities.