Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science Graduates 'Matched' With Nation's Top Teaching Hospitals

Students in Class of 2008 Placed At the Nation's Most Prestigious Hospitals


LOS ANGELES, March 21, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- May we have the envelopes please? Students of Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) yesterday joined thousands of senior medical students from across the nation at precisely 9:00 a.m. as they opened their envelopes to learn where they will be placed to do their residency after graduation.

This annual event, known as Match Day, is the culmination of a process that begins in the fall when senior medical students begin applying to residency programs through a national computer system. Following application, students are then invited to interview at the discretion of each program. Students electronically rank the programs in their order of preference while residency program directors across the country do the same.

The results for the Charles Drew University students were revealed at their annual campus breakfast attended by students, family members, faculty and Dr. Susan Kelly, Charles Drew University's President and CEO.

"This university is a particularly proud institution today. What greater source of pride than to see our graduates go to America's top training hospitals on the way to becoming the best physicians committed to serving the communities which most need them? It's a validation of both the University's excellent educational program and of the quality and dedication of our students," said Dr. Kelly.

This year students at the minority-based medical school were successfully placed in their choice of medical residency programs in some of the nation's most prestigious hospitals. Eighty-eight percent of the students will remain in California to do their residency. Retaining these graduating physicians in California is an important contribution to solving the State's looming physician workforce shortage.

Among the prestigious hospital training programs where Charles Drew University students matched in California were Harbor-UCLA Medical Center; Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; UCLA Medical Center/Santa Monica; Children's Hospital; White Memorial Medical Center; Children's Hospital; Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital; UC Irvine Medical Center; University of Southern California; Alameda County Medical Center; and Kaiser Permanente. Medical institution in other parts of the country included Physicians Medical Center Carraway in Alabama; University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Wisconsin, and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Dr. Richard S. Baker, Dean of Charles Drew University's College of Medicine, presided over the special ceremony this morning on campus, where students opened their envelopes to learn their status. "Of course, every one of our students is to be congratulated for achieving such a major professional goal this early in their career. But what makes this accomplishment even more rewarding to those of us involved, is seeing their extraordinary and undiminished dedication to the University's mission -- helping the underserved and eliminating health care disparities," he stated.

Sixty-eight percent of Charles Drew University's graduates matched in primary care specialties (Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology and Pediatrics), with the balance matching in subspecialties such as Emergency Medicine, General Surgery, Psychiatry, Surgery-Preliminary, Transitional, Urology and Vascular Surgery.

The CDU/UCLA medical education program is a unique partnership between the Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, with a special mission of serving the chronically underserved. Each CDU graduate distinguished him/herself from the great majority of medical students in the nation by completing a formal medical research thesis. For the third year in a row, one-sixth of the Charles Drew/UCLA medical student class was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha the national medical honor society.

As a part of its mission, Charles Drew University's graduates continue to provide urgently needed healthcare services to millions of medically underserved residents of the poorest communities in Los Angeles County. Named in honor of the brilliant African-American physician whose pioneering work in blood preservation has saved a billion lives in 60 years. Charles Drew University was born in a fire, the Watts Rebellion of 1965. A high price of death, injury and destruction was paid, but in its aftermath a strong, vibrant and resilient institution was created committed to the ideal that health is a human right. Through excellence in education, clinical practice outreach and research that makes a real difference, the University continues four decades later to proudly serve people in the greatest need, in the largest underserved urban area in the nation -- and others like it everywhere.

For more information visit the Charles Drew University website at http://www.cdrewu.edu

About Charles Drew University:

A private non-profit educational institution in the Watts-Willowbrook area of South Los Angeles, Charles 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 1.6 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.

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.


            

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