FRESNO – More than 30 graduating high school seniors in the Doctors Academy Program at Sunnyside High School in Fresno are headed to medical school. The students will participate in a day of seminars and recognition for their completion of the four-year academic preparation program on Wednesday, March 7 at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.
During the morning, students will participate in a seminar intended to help college-going students relieve stress and then they will visit a pathology lab. Through the lab experience, students will learn about the ethical values, responsibilities, and reverence afforded to individuals who donate their bodies for health science education. In the afternoon, the students will be honored at a recognition luncheon featuring keynote speaker Alma Martinez, MD, a clinical professor at UCSF School of Medicine. Martinez will congratulate students and encourage them to continue on their way in the field of medicine. Doctors Academy students also will hear from current UCSF medical school students about their personal experiences and challenges.
The group will depart at 5:30 am from Sunnyside High School (1019 S. Peach Ave.) in Fresno with arrival expected in San Francisco at 10 am. The return trip is scheduled for 3 pm with arrival in Fresno at 7:30 pm.
The event is sponsored by UCSF and The California Wellness Foundation.
The Doctors Academy, which is sponsored by the UCSF Fresno Latino Center for Medical Education and Research, is a college preparatory academy for educationally and economically disadvantaged students interested in professional careers in health or medicine. The program is now in its eighth year at Sunnyside High School. Currently, there are approximately 160 students enrolled in the program.
For more information, please contact Diana Cantu, Doctors Academy program coordinator at (559) 253- 6715 or email [email protected]
