MERCED, CA – The University of California Regents’ Committee on Educational Policy and Committee on Health Services today (May 14) unanimously authorized UC Merced to proceed with the next phase of planning for a School of Medicine.

As a result of the regents’ endorsement, UC Merced will begin immediately to establish an office that will encompass all medical school planning efforts. The next phase of planning for the campus involves developing curriculum, planning for the infrastructure, and seeking faculty review and approval of the curriculum and the new school. UC Merced’s aim is to submit a full proposal and business plan by the end of 2009.

"This is an exciting day for UC Merced, the San Joaquin Valley and California,” said Chancellor Steve Kang. “With the regents’ approval we will continue our comprehensive and consultative process of planning for a research-based medical school at UC Merced. The school is necessary to train physicians to meet the critical need for doctors in the state and medically underserved Valley. I thank the regents for their endorsement and wish to express sincere gratitude to the Valley community, including our elected officials and the Valley Coalition for UC Merced Medical School for their tremendous support.”

Based on more than three years of planning led by UC Merced’s Dean of Natural Sciences Maria Pallavicini, in September 2006, UC Merced submitted to the UC Office of the President a preliminary program proposal to establish a School of Medicine. The proposed school will help meet healthcare workforce demands by training physicians through expanded professional training in medical education and research. Current plans call for the enrollment of the first class of 32 students in 2013 though factors such as approval process, funding and hiring of leadership will affect the time line.

A projected shortfall of up to 17,000 physicians in California by 2015 will have an adverse and disproportionate impact on the rapidly growing San Joaquin Valley, where access to healthcare is already 31 percent lower than the state average. Access to specialists in the Valley is 51 percent lower than in the rest of the state.

In addition to improving access to health care, the UC Merced medical school is expected to generate positive economic benefits in the Valley considering that $845 million is spent annually by Valley residents on health care services delivered outside of the region.

Five advocates, including members of the Valley Coalition for UC Merced Medical School, told the regents today that the Valley’s need for more physicians is a serious public policy issue that must be addressed. The representatives spoke to the widespread support in the Valley for a UC Merced medical school and recalled the history of UC Merced as a lesson in how perseverance prevails. Speaking were Bryn Forhan, a Fresno businesswoman and co-chair of the Valley Coalition; Lee Kolligian, a UCLA alumnus and son of former UC Regent Leo Kolligian; Luisa Medina, a board member of the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley; Larry Seigler, M.D., former regent and president of the UCLA Alumni Association and City of Fresno Councilmember Larry Westerlund, who is being called to active military duty and leaves later this week for Iraq.