COLLEGE: UC Riverside’s medical school will open in 2013.
By Aysouda Malekzadeh, News Editor
UC Riverside recently received preliminary accreditation to begin its medical school in fall of 2013. The Washington D.C.-based Liaison Committee for Medical Education finally gave UCR the approval a year after the school’s hard efforts in fundraising.
The proposed medical program was supposed to begin its first class this fall, but in July 2011 the accreditation board denied UCR’s application. The primary cause for the board’s denial was the state’s failure to commit $15 million per year to fund the school. G. Richard Olds, the school’s dean, said that “there has never been a case where a school has been turned down by the accreditation committee, reapplied a year later and received approval.”
Though the school’s first effort was a disheartening failure that left many people wondering if the school would be able to open without the state support it had expected, the support of Riverside and its surrounding communities helped the school to get back on track. The medical school was able to raise commitments of $10 million per year for ten years with the help of Riverside County Supervisors, community leaders, health care workers and the UC President’s Office. The accreditation board, which gave the school a flawless report from their visit in August, found the funding to be adequate, and therefore approved UCR’s medical school.
Olds said that the next step for the school will be to enroll students. Since 1974, UCR has been in partnership with UCLA’s medical school under the Haider Program. Every year, 26 students enter the Haider Program and spend their first two years of medical school studying at UCR and their last two years at UCLA. The students entering that program in 2013 will be part of the medical school’s first class of students. Another 26 students are expected to come from outside the campus.
Olds called the launching of the school the most important moment in his career as a physician, educator and administrator.
Windy Figueroa, a counselor at Poly, believes that more students will apply with the addition of the Medical School. “The program is something our community really needs,” she said. Many of the other counselors are very excited for the program as well. They believe that UCR will attract both undergraduates and graduates, while promoting many new jobs in Riverside.