University Advancement

Public Relations and Strategic Communications

MEDIA RELEASE

CSUN Program Aims to Ease Communities’ Health Care Drought

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Dec. 13, 2007) — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says a frightening 20 percent of the U.S. population lives in Health Professional Shortage Areas where there is too little primary, mental or dental health care to go around.

A 2007 community needs assess¬ment found that in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys, about 29 percent of children "had difficulty accessing medical care" and 20 percent of adults "reported no regular source of medical care."

The California Endowment recently reported that in South Los Angeles, "wait times for seeing a specialist border on the ridiculous: six months to a year is routine."

At Cal State Northridge, such bad news statistics are driving a relatively new but absolutely determined program called SHP-PEP (Student Health Professionals Pre-Entry Program) to prepare students for graduate study, ultimately to become health profes¬sionals such as doctors, dentists, pharmacists, optometrists, ophthalmologists, nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, and public and environmental health practitioners.

"We’ve looked at reports that show most health professionals who provide service in a health professional shortage area were themselves raised in disadvantaged communities," said SHP-PEP director Frankie Augustin. A program that would "pipeline" students from disadvantaged backgrounds into health care fields, she reasoned, would increase the likelihood of their service in communities where the need is greatest.

SHP-PEP was formed early in summer 2005 and began flagging a diverse mix of students early in the admissions process, recruiting them to make up the first cohort of SHP-PEP freshman for fall 2005.

"We look for students who have experienced severe adversity but who are fired by their desire to go to college," Augustin said.

Adversity for the SHP-PEP students comes in many forms, said interim program coordinator Johny Tadros. "We’ve had students who have had family members killed in gang-related incidents, and who have had a parent in jail. More than once, we’ve seen students acting as primary caregivers for elderly members of their families."

"We were blown away by the students’ honesty," said Augustin, who sits on the SHP-PEP advisory committee that reviews applicants.

In spring 2009, SHP-PEP will graduate the first of its health professional "preppies." Increasing in numbers each semester since 2005, the SHP-PEP population now is nearly 70, with more in the pipeline. Among other things, the program’s immediate aim is to get students into graduate school in the health professions, prepare them for the rigors of academic study, and provide them with leadership experience for their health care careers.

"The retention strategy is very hands on, with constant follow-up meetings and goals set at every meeting," said Tadros. From the time SHP-PEP freshmen settle into CSUN dormitories for a week of pre-entry summer academic prepping, they are exposed to intensive counseling on time management, discipline and other areas.

"Some are trying to apply methods that got them through high school, but…I help them see that things need to change," Tadros said. If grade point averages fall below 2.5, tutoring becomes mandatory for SHP-PEP students, who sign a contract to that effect. Once tutoring begins, Tadros said they appreciate how vital it is for success in CSUN’s tough chemistry and upper division biology courses.

SHP-PEP sophomore Ariadne Salvador of Sun Valley said the program’s mandatory five-year plan has kept her on course with academic requirements. "With SHP-PEP, you’re not lost," she said.

Salvador may one day return to her native Philippines to open her own pharmacy. During a recent trip to her homeland, she saw firsthand the need for health care specialists, in an experience that doubled her commitment to SHP-PEP’s goals.

"The bottom line is retention of our students," said Augustin. "There are people back in the communities who need them."