L.A. Care was proud to announce its seventh group of Elevating the Safety Net medical school scholarship awardees on July 16, 2024 at a special “white coat” ceremony. Eight students from underrepresented communities will each receive a full-ride medical school scholarship worth nearly $428,000, allowing them to graduate without medical school debt.
Elevating the Safety Net is a $205 million initiative, which launched in 2018 to address a growing physician shortage across the country – a shortage projected to be 86,000 by 2036. The initiative is not only working to increase the number of physicians working in the health care safety net, but it is also striving to increase diversity among the physician workforce in L.A. County. Research shows racial and ethnic diversity in the physician workforce improves outcomes in communities of color.
“This new group of scholarship recipients brings the total number of L.A. Care scholars to 56, and I am proud to say, the vast majority of the 56 have come from communities of color,” said John Baackes, L.A. Care CEO. “What is especially important for L.A. Care is that all of these scholars have expressed a desire to work in underserved communities, like those that L.A. Care serves. We know the diversity of these scholars is going to mean better health outcomes for our members and others for years to come.”
Four of the 2024 L.A. Care Elevating the Safety Net Scholars will attend the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, which launched its own independent medical school last year, thanks in part, to a $5 million grant from L.A. Care.
“Being able to complete medical school and pursue one’s passion for serving underserved communities without the burden of overwhelming debt is truly a dream come true for the recipients of L.A. Care’s Elevating the Safety Net Initiative scholarships,” stated Deborah Prothrow-Stith, Dean of CDU's College of Medicine. "Seventy percent of CDU medical students qualified for Pell grants while in college, which is evidence of economic need. These scholarships provide the necessary support for our future physicians, allowing them to stay focused on their mission of promoting social justice, health equity, and access to care for all."
Sergio Vazquez, who majored in Sociology at Dartmouth College, is one of the CDU scholars.
“This scholarship is nothing short of life-changing and will support me tremendously as I navigate medical school at the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science,” said Vazquez. “My interest in medicine began in childhood because it was extremely difficult to access healthcare growing up, and I want to be a physician who will help ensure that other children don’t endure the same hardships that my family did.”
Four of the 2024 L.A. Care Scholars will attend the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
“UCLA is proud to partner with L.A. Care in our shared goal to mitigate social conditions which impact health in Los Angeles,” said Steven Dubinett, MD, Dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “The L.A. Care Scholarship is essential to training the next generation of physicians to respond appropriately to a rapid growth in diversity in Los Angeles. We are grateful that our student recipients will be supported to pursue positions in historically underserved communities in Los Angeles, leading to better health outcomes for the communities we serve.”
Kennedi Randolph, who majored in Biology at UCLA, will stay at the university as one of the four scholars who will attend the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
“This scholarship is going to help me reach my goal of providing equitable and culturally competent care to medically underserved populations. I aspire to make a direct and significant impact on those in underserved communities by enabling them to achieve excellent health,” said Randolph. “Growing up in South L.A., I rarely saw physicians who looked like me. I am hoping to inspire other minority students to chase their own medical school dreams.”
The four scholars who will attend the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science are:
- Estrella Ramirez – BS, Biochemistry, California State University, Long Beach
- Monica Valle – BS, Anthropology, Georgetown University
- Sergio Vazquez – BS, Sociology, Dartmouth College
- Lewis Williams – BS, Biology, Excelsior College, and MA, Biomedical Science and MA, Public Health, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
The four scholars who will attend the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA are:
- Diana Castro – BS, Neuroscience, UCLA
- Anthony Jones – BS, Biochemistry, Cal State Dominguez Hills, PhD, Molecular Pharmacology, UCLA
- Kennedi Randolph – BS, Biology, UCLA
- Brenda Vasquez – BS, Psychology, UC Irvine
Since 2018, L.A. Care’s total investment in medical school scholarships is more than $21 million. In addition to the scholarships, Elevating the Safety Net offers grants for clinics and practices to recruit new physicians into the safety net clinics and practices that treat these communities. It also offers medical school loan repayment for physicians who commit to working in the safety net for three years. Thanks to the Elevating the Safety Net initiative, there are 188 newly recruited physicians now working in the L.A. County safety net, and 192 physicians have been awarded loan repayment grants since 2018.
You can learn more about all of the L.A. Care Scholars here.