• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Features
  • Campus News
  • CSUDH.edu
  • Contact
  • People
    • Staff Spotlight
    • Faculty Highlights
    • Alumni
  • Magazine
  • For Journalists
    • CSUDH In The News
    • Press Releases
    • Facts and Figures
    • Find Media Experts
    • Gallery
    • News Reporting on Campus

CSUDH News

The primary source of news and information about California State University, Dominguez Hills, its students, faculty, and staff.

Insight into Diversity: California Grant Expands Health Professions Access for Underrepresented Students

January 4, 2023

Students using microscopes

Source: Insight into Diversity

To address the shortage of health care professionals in the state and promote diversity in health education, the California Department of Health Care Access and Information recently invested nearly $41 million across more than 20 higher education institutions and organizations through the Health Professions Pathways Program (HPPP).

The primary goal of HPPP is to encourage and support disadvantaged and underrepresented individuals who plan to pursue health careers, which will also lead to a more culturally competent workforce. Awardee institutions received funding based on their commitment to three components: pathway programs, paid summer internships for undergraduates, and one-year post-undergraduate fellowships.

California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), a Hispanic-Serving Institution in south Los Angeles County, received $3.3 million. As of 2022, Hispanic and Latinx individuals comprised nearly two-thirds of the student body. 

CSUDH will utilize the funding to implement several initiatives over five years through its College of Health, Human Services, and Nursing (CHHSN) to support and engage students in various health care fields. The programs meet the university’s larger goal of advancing economic mobility by providing financial support and career opportunities for a largely economically disadvantaged student population, says Mi-Sook Kim, PhD, dean of the college.

One such initiative is the summer internship program, open to 20 undergraduate students each year. Participants placed in health-related internships will each receive a $5,000 stipend from CSUDH to help offset the need to work and create more opportunities to explore their chosen careers. Along similar lines, CHHSN operates a program that provides up to $25,000 over one year to five recent graduates. The funding allows eligible students to enhance their health care careers by pursuing advanced health-related degrees or through other pathways.

Financial support programs are especially critical given the university’s large population of traditional and non-traditional students who often need to work and may take jobs outside their career fields, says Kim.

“As soon as they graduate, they jump into a part-time job because they’re desperate, and they need to support their family,” Kim says. “That’s why we’re trying to support these students, so they can explore further and open up other opportunities to advance their education.”

A portion of the HPPP funding will be crucial in providing competitive wages to attract, retain, and support more faculty from diverse backgrounds. Although CHHSN’s faculty diversity is higher than the national average – about 50 percent are from underrepresented groups – it is important to bring in more underrepresented faculty to better reflect the demographics of its student population, says Kim.

In addition, CHHSN is implementing its own pathway program for incoming learners, including first-year and transfer students. They will explore various health careers and how to achieve their goals in the industry. Through the program, the college is also strengthening its relationships with high schools and community colleges in the region to encourage more students of color to pursue health care education. Additionally, students will have access to a peer mentorship and advising program, to ensure they feel connected.

Given the ongoing shortage of health care workers, linked to burnout and COVID-19, HPPP funding comes at an important moment, and it allows schools like CSUDH to help shape a more diverse health workforce for the future, says Enrique Ortega, PhD, associate dean.

“We’re going through an unfortunate period where there’s a dire need for more health care professionals in so many different areas,” he says. “We see this as the perfect time to marry that unfortunate circumstance with what the industry and society have been asking for in terms of having a more diverse workforce.”

Filed Under: Archive, CSUDH In The News Tagged With: CHHSN, diversity, health, health care, Students

Primary Sidebar

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
2nd in Economic Mobility

Press Releases

Soccer player kicking the ball in a stadium full of people

CSUDH Theatre Presents “The Wolves”

November 9, 2023

Image of a dancer and a compass.

CSUDH Presents “Compass: The Past Forges the Future” Dance Concert

October 31, 2023

Text: The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Diety by Kristoffer Diaz. Directed by Stefani Baez. University Theatre, Oct. 11, 12, 13, and 14 at 7 p.m. CSUDH.edu/theatre/ttickets

CSUDH Presents “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity”

October 4, 2023

See all Press Releases ›

CSUDH in the News

Carson City Hall

Daily Breeze: Carson and CSUDH Begin New Paid Mentorship Program

November 22, 2023

President Parham and Karen Bass onstage

Daily Breeze: Karen Bass Talks Leadership, Civic Engagement at Her Alma Mater, CSU Dominguez Hills

November 16, 2023

Students using computer inside a prison facility

L.A. Times: Earning a Master’s Degree in Prison Now Possible in ‘Groundbreaking’ California Program

November 3, 2023

See more In the News ›

Faculty Highlights

Headshot of Laura Talamante

Faculty Highlights: November 2023

Minhye Son

Faculty Highlights: October 2023

Headshot of Carolyn Caffrey.

Faculty Highlights: September 2023

Staff Spotlight

Raven Emmert

Staff Spotlight: Raven Emmert

Elizabeth Hernandez

Staff Spotlight: Elizabeth Hernandez

Cesar Mejia Gomez

Staff Spotlight: Cesar Mejia Gomez

Footer

California State University, Dominguez Hills Logo

Related Sites

  • csudh.edu
  • magazine.csudh.edu
  • gotoros.com

EMAIL NEWSLETTER

Get CSUDH News directly in your inbox

Copyright © 2023 · California State University, Dominguez Hills