LOS ANGELES, July 18, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- As part of the regularly scheduled accreditation process required of all universities, The Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science in South Los Angeles was reviewed by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) in March this year. This week WASC confirms continuing accreditation of the university. Regional accreditation is the gold standard of accreditation in higher education. Among other benefits, it enables universities to offer students federal financial aid and assures students of a university's capacity to deliver programs of the highest standards within a well-resourced and professionally administered learning environment.
President Susan Kelly made the announcement to faculty, staff, students, trustees and community partners of the mission-driven university in South Los Angeles on Tuesday this week. "We can all be proud of the team work required to achieve this result-especially at a time of great change at the university!"
"This decision clears the way for us all to continue to advance the university. We have bold plans for a new four-year medical school and school of nursing-both in partnership with the University of California. Our peers in higher education have again validated that we have the capacity to deliver the academic excellence that our students and supporters have come to expect from us," said Dr. Kelly.
The Charles Drew University is the only academic health sciences center in an area of 1.6 million people -- the largest urban underserved area in the United States. The university is also the only dually designated Historically Black Graduate Institution and Hispanic Serving Health Professions School in the nation. It was created from the ashes of the Watts Rebellion in 1965. Since 1971, The Charles Drew University has graduated over 500 medical doctors, 2,500 specialist physicians, 2,000 Physician Assistants and hundreds of other, mainly minority health professionals. Research shows that the vast majority of these professionals are still serving the people in greatest need a decade or more after graduation.
Dr. Ronald Edelstein, Dean, Academic Affairs and the university academic liaison to WASC, said he is pleased and encouraged by the decision. "We thank WASC and its review team for their expertise and assistance to us throughout the process," Dr. Edelstein stated.
Further information about The Charles Drew University may be found on its website at http://www.cdrewu.edu.
ABOUT THE CHARLES DREW UNIVERSITY:
A private non-profit educational institution in the Watts-Willowbrook area of South Los Angeles, The Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science has provided quality college, graduate and post-graduate education and training to thousands of qualified minority and other students for more than 35 years. As part of its mission, the University has also provided urgently needed healthcare services to chronically underserved residents of the poorest communities in Los Angeles County, serving the 1.7 million citizens in its 94-square-mile service area. If this service area were a municipality, it would be the fifth largest city in the U.S.
The University is widely regarded as an innovative medical education university pioneering in teaching doctors and healthcare professionals, and in conducting quality research, to deal with the special needs of the poor, chronically ill populations in the inner city. By expanding relationships with local medical school, research institutions and community-based organizations, the University is focused on eliminating health care disparities by providing access to and delivery of vital health care services to underserved populations. The University has been remarkably successful in achieving its primary goal of producing physicians and other healthcare professionals who return to the community to serve people who are uninsured or underinsured. It has graduated over 500 medical doctors, 2,500 physician specialists, 2,000 physician assistants and hundreds of other health professionals.
The Charles Drew University's unique environment of providing medical education has been lauded as a national model. Research shows both that its students become more committed to the mission as they progress through their medical education and that 10 years after graduation, 70% of Charles Drew University trained physicians are still working with underserved populations.