CSUDH News

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

health care

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

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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.”

Student Janelle Nelson Attends Reproductive Rights Summit with Vice President Harris 

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CSUDH’s Janelle Nelson Attends Reproductive Rights Summit with Vice President Harris

CSUDH criminal justice major Janelle Nelson was among 75 student leaders who participated in a meeting at the White House with Vice President Kamala Harris to discuss the fight to protect reproductive rights.

Nelson, a CSUDH senior and Presidential Scholar who will graduate this December, was one of two students chosen from the 23 CSUs across the state. She joined students from 65 other campuses and 33 different states at the forum.

“It was amazing,” says Nelson. “I was only there for two days, but I slept a lot on the plane, so I had time to walk around and see as much as I could—to just soak it all in, because I don’t know when I’ll be going to Washington DC again!”

In selecting a student to represent CSUDH, “We wanted a student who was bright, mature enough to manage the responsibilities of independent travel, and poised enough to represent the campus is this special invitation-only summit,” said President Thomas A. Parham. 

“Janelle has distinguished herself in her academic achievements, is capable of articulating her position on the topic being discussed, and has the poise, maturity, and intellect we were looking for.”

During the conversation, student leaders spoke to Vice President Harris about reproductive health care access on their college and university campuses, and shared stories about how students are organizing in their communities following the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

“Basically, the summit was about how abortion access is up to the states now, and there’s a lot of misinformation and confusion,” says Nelson. “There’s not one standard. If you’re in one place, there might be one law, but another just across the state line. And a lot of students don’t really have access to that kind of information sometimes because we’re so focused on school.”

The student leaders highlighted how young people are mobilizing to oppose restrictive abortion laws and noted the intersection of attacks on abortion access and attacks on voting rights and LGBTQI+ rights—underlining the importance of building coalitions to defend rights and freedoms.

“Hearing how passionate they were and how involved they were in the topic really underlined how serious this is,” says Nelson. “I feel like it ignited a passion in me about something that maybe I wasn’t focused on enough before.”

“I got to meet a lot of the other students there,” she continues. “I can definitely say that these women will be a part of amazing change—they already are part of amazing change! Trading stories and contact information with them was really important to me.”

After the meeting, the student leaders got to meet Vice President Harris and had a group photo taken. “It was like Hunger Games, I’m telling you,” Nelson laughs. “As soon as they said, ‘Let’s get a photo,’ everybody started posting and running over. I didn’t know we were doing it like that! It was really fun, though.”

Being one of two student leaders from the CSU system “definitely made me feel proud,” says Nelson, who plans to pursue a master’s degree in social work after graduating from CSUDH. “It’s been an amazing, whirlwind experience. I’m so honored to have been able to represent Dominguez Hills.”

“As a college student, you can find yourself just focused on your diploma. When you’re in the middle of it, it seems like you’re just waiting for the next essay, the next assignment. But things like this are shaping my future and are going to change my life. I know once I graduate, it’ll hit me and I’ll be an emotional wreck.”

“But right now I have two papers due on Sunday, so that’s what I’m thinking about!” she laughs.

Aspiring Prosthetist Grads Specialize in Empathy

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Kroener and Bretado making Toro hand signal
Kroener (left) and Bretado (right).

For Martha Bretado and Rachel Kroener, the field of prosthetics is about much more than creating new artificial limbs for patients. As people who have physical disabilities themselves, the two students understand the importance of fostering community with their patients, building up their confidence, and showing them life’s full range of possibilities.

Bretado and Kroener became close friends during their graduate studies in CSUDH’s Orthotics and Prosthetics program, having bonded over their shared experiences and passion for the disability community. This semester, they graduate from CSUDH’s Orthotics and Prosthetics program with their master’s degrees in health sciences with the intention of becoming certified prosthetists.

Bretado, who was raised in the City of Industry, Calif., and currently lives in Huntington Beach, was born five months prematurely with Amniotic Band Syndrome, which resulted in the congenital loss of her left leg and several partial fingers. As a child, she was fascinated by castings during her prosthetic leg fittings, and wanted to learn more about the process. In retrospect, Bretado wishes that she had known other people with limb loss or disabilities—at times, her condition made her feel isolated.

“Growing up, I never met anyone with an amputation,” Bretado says. “At certain ages, I shielded myself from the world a little bit. I wanted to cover my leg and not talk about it.”

As she got older, Bretado became more comfortable with talking about her experiences. She decided in high school that she wanted to become a prosthetist, and went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in health sciences at CSUDH in 2016 before joining the graduate program. She has also been a peer mentor with the Amputee Coalition since 2014, and says that she brings a special type of empathy to her prosthetics patients.

Martha Bretado helping a patient
Bretado (right) assists a patient with a fellow student.

“When patients know I have a limb lost, they get very excited,” Bretado says. “I know what they go through. I’ve had practitioners who never listened to me and made me feel little.”

“I tell other students what we need to focus on more as clinicians, and that’s having an open mind and really listening to your patients,” Bretado adds. “I love the feeling of making people’s lives better, and that’s what I want to do for every patient.”

Kroener shares Bretado’s enthusiasm for patient interaction, and says that their unique perspective was helpful to fellow students in their graduate program.

“It’s a different dynamic,” Kroener said. “There are things they wouldn’t think of when treating a patient, so they were able to learn from our experiences.”

Kroener, who was raised in Scottsdale, Ariz., has always used a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy. A self-described “big advocate” for adaptive sports, she began playing wheelchair basketball at age 10—an experience which she says “opened up the whole world.”

Kroener added track and field to her athletic endeavors, earning multiple awards for discus, javelin, and shot put, and attended the University of Texas at Arlington to play on the women’s wheelchair basketball team. Being part of a tight-knit disabled community was hugely impactful for Kroener, who was inspired by her fellow teammates.

“They were independent, married, had kids, worked full-time jobs—that was really cool to see,” she says. “It showed me what was possible.”

Kroener holding a prosthetic piece
Kroener working with prosthetic materials.

Kroener has also shared her enthusiasm for adaptive sports with Bretado, who says she wishes she “had known what is out there” earlier in life. Both students recall that none of their personal practitioners or doctors ever spoke with them about adaptive sports or other inclusive activities.

“If you’re just giving your patient a device and not helping them find opportunities within the disability community, you’re doing a disservice to them,” Kroener says. “It’s really powerful to meet other people with disabilities.”

Kroener and Bretado look forward to continuing bringing their expertise and empathy to the field post-graduation. They share a vision in which people with disabilities are afforded with respect and understanding, and difference is normalized.

“People tell me, ‘I’m sorry,’ and I’m like, ‘why?’” Bretado says. “This made me who I am. I’m a passionate person who loves people, who wants to always help people. That’s not something I’m sorry about.”

Nursing students partner with LAFD in vaccine rollout

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Nursing students partner with LAFD in vaccine rollout
Los Angeles Fire Department personnel (CSUDH alumna Samantha Chaney Prado, second from right), with supplies for LAFD’s mobile vaccination vans, donated by Toyota, to bring vaccines to homebound populations.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Toros have sought innovative ways to help frontline workers, promote health and safety, and assist those struggling with basic needs. Now, CSUDH nursing students have stepped up to help the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) with the mammoth task of vaccinating Angelenos.

The 12 participating students are working toward their Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Normally, they would complete community-based clinical hours at designated sites as part of their course requirements. However, those sites all but shuttered last year due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Associate Professor of Nursing Nop Ratanasiripong, decided to pivot her BSN 423 Community-Based Nursing Role Performance course to a service-learning model. The aim was to give students the chance to fully step into their roles as health-care providers while helping communities in the fight against COVID-19.

“This is a historic moment,” she said. “This course is about community health and the role of the nurse. We can go out and accomplish something in the community with high impact.”

The LAFD offered the perfect opportunity for CSUDH nursing students to get involved. In addition to vaccinating more than 1.4 million Angelenos this year, the department has continued to run testing sites, administering more than 4 million tests since the start of the pandemic. It is a massive, complex operation, requiring help from firefighters, disaster relief workers, and health-care professionals.

Firefighter Samantha Chaney Prado, who also happens to be a CSUDH alumna (’06, B.A. Liberal Studies), oversees staffing for multiple LAFD testing and vaccine sites. Prado worked with Nop to place her nursing students in LAFD’s new partnership with Toyota to mobilize its vaccination efforts and reach homebound populations – those who cannot come to sites to receive their injections.

“Toyota has enabled us to reach underserved communities: the homebound population, and people experiencing homelessness,” Prado said, adding that the CSUDH nursing students are playing a big part in the effort to reach those segments of the city.

“They have been so willing to handle the mission,” she said. “Sometimes we get people who ask, ‘Do we have to do that?’ when going into people’s homes. But the students are very eager to get out there. They’ve been awesome.”

As a firefighter EMT, Prado worked in recruitment and outreach for the LAFD prior to the pandemic. Like so many others, she had to quickly transition to an entirely new working environment when COVID-19 hit in 2020. Suddenly, she and her colleagues were tasked with running large-scale operations for the city.

“It’s rewarding and challenging coming together as one, and learning something new,” she said. “I didn’t have training in this, so I had to rise to the occasion. But that’s what we do – we help people.”

Adam Valson, one of the nursing students assisting on LAFD sites, shared Prado’s can-do attitude. Valson said that flexibility and a commitment to serve are central to the mission – and to good nursing.

Nursing student Adam Valson
Nursing student Adam Valson at the Los Angeles Police Academy vaccination site.

“Nurses are adaptable,” Valson said. “Our field of work is forever changing, and there are always new and emerging practices, so we have to be adaptable and learn new information as it emerges to better serve our patients.”

For Valson, it is exciting to be able to give back in such a hands-on, concrete way – particularly during a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic.

“I can say that I was able to participate in something so unprecedented,” he said. “Whether it was vaccinating people, or teaching about the vaccine or the disease itself, I was able to be of service to the community.”

Providence Health Donates 1,500 COVID-19 Supply Kits to Students and Staff

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Alumna Giselle Corral, an office support specialist in CSUDH’s Toro Guardian Scholars program, helps the Toro Food Pantry distribute food and COVID-19 protection supplies to her peers.
Alumna Giselle Corral, an office support specialist in CSUDH’s Toro Guardian Scholars program, helps the Toro Food Pantry distribute food and COVID-19 protection supplies to her peers.

Kenya Beckmann felt good as she turned into Parking Lot 1 at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) and saw students placing donated food as well as Providence Health bags filled with COVID-19 protection supplies into the trunks of cars for their peers in need.

Beckmann, the regional chief philanthropy officer of Providence Health, came to CSUDH to volunteer during one of the Toro Food Pantry food distribution drive-throughs. Operated through the university’s Basic Needs Office, the pantry has been providing students food every other week since the beginning of the pandemic.

Kenya Beckmann, regional chief philanthropy officer of Providence Health, hands a COVID-19 supply kit to a CSUDH student during a Toro Food Pantry drive-thru distribution event. Providence donated 1,500 kits to the university.
Kenya Beckmann, regional chief philanthropy officer for Providence Health, hands a COVID-19 supply kit to a CSUDH student during a Toro Food Pantry drive-thru distribution event. Providence donated 1,500 kits to the university.

Providence, the largest health care provider in Southern California, has committed $50 million over the next five years to help reduce the impact of health disparities on communities of color. The health supplies they donated to CSUDH are part of that effort.

“This is where it’s happening,” Beckmann said she was thinking as she pulled up to the row of pop-up shelters from where the supplies were distributed. “This is where people are going to leave with a little comfort, knowing that they have enough food to get them through the next couple of days, and some supplies to protect them. I think this image will stay with me for a while.”

The Toro Food Pantry continues to distribute donated fresh food to students in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. The food includes prepackaged healthy meals from Everytable, which opened a takeout location in the Loker Student Union in 2019.

“We are thankful to Providence for their partnership and generosity to our campus community by helping our students and staff,” said David Gamboa, associate vice president for External Relations at CSUDH.

Gamboa added that students live in communities that have endured a disproportionate amount of suffering during the pandemic. “It is reassuring knowing that we have a partner in Providence that is as dedicated as we are to addressing this inequity in a tangible and immediate way,” he said.

This was the second time that Providence distributed its SOCAL Health Equity Kits on campus. Two weeks prior, students living in University Housing and CSUDH employees were given reusable bags with such safety items as hand sanitizers and masks, while larger kits included such items as pulse oximeters and digital thermometers will soon be distributed. Providence donated close to 1,500 kits in all to the university.

Facility Services employees show their COVID-19 kits from Providence Health.
Facility Services employees show their COVID-19 protection kits from Providence Health.

“We are a hospital system that considers itself a ministry, and we feel that we are called to be there for everyone, especially those who are vulnerable,” Beckmann explained. “Since last year, we have been seeing a rise in health disparities that are acute and disproportionately attacking communities of color, and other at-risk groups.”

Providence is also creating local health programs designed to address the needs of specific communities, such as the high rate of hypertension among Los Angeles’ black residents, and the need for better access to primary care in Asian and Latinx communities.

“We’re looking for partners like Cal State Dominguez Hills who want to lean into the success that they have had with their programs and research. These types of partnerships make a big difference,” Beckmann said.

She added that addressing health disparities is at the heart of what Providence is as an organization. “I’m grateful to Cal State Dominguez Hills for partnering with us, and everyone’s generosity and spirit. Like this university, we are about community, and we’re going to continue to look for other ways to make lives healthier, to reduce the impact of health disparities, and to be a good partner.”