LOS ANGELES, April 27, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Medical education can play a significant role in reducing health care disparities between underserved and more affluent communities, according to a study published in the May 2007 issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine. The research suggested that physicians educated in specialized medical school programs focused on serving poor and minority communities are more likely to practice in underserved areas than those completing a more traditional medical school curriculum. Because these specialized medical education programs are a proven means to keep many committed health care practitioners in underserved areas , they may, as a result, reduce health care disparities.
Specifically, the study examined the practice locations of graduates from the first 10 years of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)/Drew Medical Education Program and their UCLA School of Medicine counterparts, who had completed the more traditional medical curriculum. The authors found that, in comparison to traditional UCLA graduates, twice as many UCLA/Drew graduates advance to practice in medically disadvantaged areas (53% to 26%).
The study was undertaken by Dr. Michelle Ko, a student at the UCLA School of Public Health, and Dr. Kevin C. Heslin of The Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science and the David Geffen School of Medicine of UCLA, Dr. Ronald A. Edelstein of The Charles Drew University, and Dr. Kevin Grumbach, of the University of California, San Francisco.
"The study was the next step in our attempt to chart the path of medical students enrolled in an inner-city medical education program. Building upon our previous study from 2005 that followed students' early goals and interests, we wanted to assess how strong their commitment was to actually practice in these underserved areas after graduation," stated Dr. Ko, lead author of the study and a UCLA/Drew program graduate.
"The study shows that a dedicated mission in a medical school can have enormous impact on, and strongly reinforce, a physician's commitment to practice in underserved communities. From a policy perspective, such programs could serve as a valuable resource for the pipeline of qualified health care professionals for disadvantaged communities," she added.
The UCLA/Drew medical education program is a unique partnership between the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, with a special mission of serving the poor and underserved. UCLA/Drew students receive basic scientific instruction at UCLA for their first two years and then complete their required core clinical rotations in South Los Angeles.
Dr. Susan Kelly, President and CEO of The Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, stated, "This study, and its earlier companion piece, demonstrate with stunning clarity just how successful the UCLA/Drew Medical Education Program has been, as well as the enduring rewards of the original mission and partnership between the two universities that began 26 years ago."
The authors noted that UCLA/Drew students "...spend a majority of their clinical time in south Los Angeles and through their experiences, develop ties to the patient population and community. In addition, Drew students' goals may be further nurtured and reinforced through interactions with like-minded peers and faculty. Furthermore, the student body at Drew is quite diverse...Students in medical schools with greater racial diversity have more favorable attitudes to underserved populations."
Arguing that the need to train committed physicians to serve the poor and minority communities is perhaps greater than ever, the study concluded: "We believe the UCLA/Drew Medical Education Program can serve as a model for other institutions to counter persistent disparities in access to physician services along the lines of race, ethnicity, income and geography."
The previous study published in 2005 examined the intentions of recent graduates of the UCLA/Drew and the traditional UCLA medical school programs. That study showed that 86% of the UCLA/Drew graduates planned to practice in underserved areas, up from 68.5% at matriculation. This contrasted to 20% of traditional UCLA medical school graduates declaring the same intentions upon graduation, an actual decline from 28% at matriculation.
The Charles Drew University is a private non-profit educational institution in the Watts-Willowbrook area of South Los Angeles, providing quality undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate education and training to thousands of qualified minority and other students since 1971. The first class of medical program students graduated in 1984.
As part of its mission, the University's graduates have provided urgently needed healthcare services to millions of chronically underserved residents of the poorest communities in Los Angeles County. The acclaimed medical school was founded in the wake of the Watts Rebellion in 1965, in response to the celebrated McCone Commission report that called for solutions to the lack of medical care for the historically underserved area. The University is widely regarded as an innovative medical education university pioneering in the education of physicians and other healthcare professionals and conducting culturally appropriate research that rapidly turns best evidence into improved clinical practice.
According to a California Wellness Foundation report, more than one-third of all underrepresented minority doctors practicing in Los Angeles County received training at The Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. It has had more than 2,500 physicians complete training in its residency programs in diverse specialties, has awarded 400 MD degrees, more than 2, 000 physician assistants, and many other health professionals. The University has also conducted innovative biomedical research, and ranks in the top 10% of institutions for research funding from the National Institutes of Health and among the top 50 private universities for research.
Support for this research was provided by the National Center for Research Resources, National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and Health Resources and Services Administration.
For further information and a copy of the published study abstract, visit The Charles Drew University website at http://www.cdrewu.edu.