New Med School in Merced

[igcgnerd]

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It came out this morning in a California Central valley paper that officials at UC Merced are in talks to create a med school there. Any thoughts?

 

[Bluntman]

It came out this morning in a California Central valley paper that officials at UC Merced are in talks to create a med school there. Any thoughts?

This has been going on for awhile. UC is also looking at Riverside as an alternative location. Personally, I'd rather see UC's next medical school go to UCR in the inland empire, where the population is exploding. The central valley needs one too, but in my opinion, UC Merced is too new and too in the middle of nowhere.

 

[bgtati]

but in my opinion, UC Merced is too new and too in the middle of nowhere.

Wasn't this the case with UCDavis? Anyways, I heard back in 2003 UCSF proposed an extension MD school in Fresno and the city of Fresno was stupid enough to turn it down. Geographically and demographically a med school would make more sense in cen-cal since there are no MD schools w/in a 200 mile radius. UCR is growing exponentially but nowhere near the rate at which the Fresno metro area is. I say put a new school in Central Cali. Just my oppinion.

 

[sentrosi]

Cali needs more med schools regardless of where they go. They could probably support new ones at both Riverside and Merced with all the Cali applicants.

 

[Bluntman]

Wasn't this the case with UCDavis? Anyways, I heard back in 2003 UCSF proposed an extension MD school in Fresno and the city of Fresno was stupid enough to turn it down. Geographically and demographically a med school would make more sense in cen-cal since there are no MD schools w/in a 200 mile radius. UCR is growing exponentially but nowhere near the rate at which the Fresno metro area is. I say put a new school in Central Cali. Just my oppinion.

Yea...I agree that Fresno would definitely be the place to put a central Cali med school.

 

[riceman04]

It came out this morning in a California Central valley paper that officials at UC Merced are in talks to create a med school there. Any thoughts?

bout time

I hope this happens. UCR is in Rattlesnake country...no thanks 👎

 

[DrZaius]

I heard about this over a year ago. Regardless of what they say, I'm not sure if it will happen. I heard that this year they didn't get as many matriculants as they planned. The school has a lot of issues to deal with, and I'm not sure that anyone will take them seriously until they are more mature. When I heard about the possible med school, they were saying it would be 10-15 years out. I think it would be more appropriate to plan for it at that time (again, when the school was more mature).

 

[notdeadyet]

Any thoughts?

Yeah. Baaaaaaaad idea. UC Merced is a failure as a school by most yardsticks. The last thing they need is to try to swing a med school.

16.3% of the campuses' undergraduate students are on academic probation with a grade point average below 2.0 (C), a figure more than double the 7 percent average of the rest of the 10-campus system. They're also not hitting their enrollment numbers.

Article on the place in today's paper.

 

[dcolon_et06]

Curse the fact that Fresno doesn't a medical school. I live in fresno and It would be soo much easier to attend a med school here. I think UC Merced would be wonderful for a Med school but It wouldnt help me much since they say that if they pass the charter, it wouldnt be up and ready for another 8-10 years (im entering college as a freshman next month) and also as mentioned before, they are very new having been open for only 3 years I believe. Fresno and the San Juaquin (sp?) valley in general would benefit more than Riverside as we have grown more than 100k people in the past 10 years (from 400-500k) We are also a major ag producer and being that, we recieve a lot of our population increases from migrant workers and minorities in general (I too am mexican) who I believe would benefit the greatest by an increase of FPs and the overall increase physicians and health care.

I believe the main reason that a lot of the students do poor at UC Merced are because they have set their standard admissions very low compared to the other UC's being that they are new and would like to fill seats. I would say the average UC admission GPA is about 3.7 and when I had a chance to attend UC Merced almost 4 months after the admission deadline (they are almost desperate), the counseler said I would have been admitted with my 3.4 with ease. The only reason I didnt attend was only because I planned on going to a CSU which doesnt need SAT's if you have a 3.0 or higher (all UC's require SAT's and SAT II's). In a sense, who are they to be picky if they really haven't made a name for themselves as a big UC?

 

[riceman04]

Yeah. Baaaaaaaad idea. UC Merced is a failure as a school by most yardsticks. The last thing they need is to try to swing a med school.

16.3% of the campuses' undergraduate students are on academic probation with a grade point average below 2.0 (C), a figure more than double the 7 percent average of the rest of the 10-campus system. They're also not hitting their enrollment numbers.

Article on the place in today's paper.

oh 😳 😛

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Yeah. Baaaaaaaad idea. UC Merced is a failure as a school by most yardsticks. The last thing they need is to try to swing a med school.

16.3% of the campuses' undergraduate students are on academic probation with a grade point average below 2.0 (C), a figure more than double the 7 percent average of the rest of the 10-campus system. They're also not hitting their enrollment numbers.

Article on the place in today's paper.

There's no doubt that UC Merced has had some problems. However, it's hard to expect much from such a young university

Either way, it would take several years before a med school could even be established. By that time, I'm sure that UC Merced would improve dramatically.

Even though some people would prefer Riverside over Merced (Fresno) location-wise, there are already many medical schools in southern california and UCSF is in the bay area but the central valley lacks a major medical school, and I think that a potential UC Merced SOM could fill that niche.

Simply put, I think that the Fresno area is in need of a medical school while creating one in Riverside seems like more of a convenience than a necessity.

Either way, more california med schools = 😀
-Dr. P.

 

[Bluntman]

Even though some people would prefer Riverside over Merced (Fresno) location-wise, there are already many medical schools in southern california and UCSF is in the bay area but the central valley lacks a major medical school, and I think that a potential UC Merced SOM could fill that niche.

Simply put, I think that the Fresno area is in need of a medical school while creating one in Riverside seems like more of a convenience than a necessity.

I'm not sure exactly where UC Merced is located, but the city of Merced is a full hour away from Fresno, isn't it? That's like saying Orange County (San Diego) 🙄 😉

 

[Dr. Pepper]

I'm not sure exactly where UC Merced is located, but the city of Merced is a full hour away from Fresno, isn't it? That's like saying Orange County (San Diego) 🙄 😉

I had a condescending geography teacher...what more can I say.

And you are right, it is in Merced.
-Dr. P.

P.S.: My bro is moving from Orange County to San Diego, so you're right, it is a big difference.

 

[dr.z]

Cali needs more med schools regardless of where they go. They could probably support new ones at both Riverside and Merced with all the Cali applicants.

👍

 

[notdeadyet]

P.S.: My bro is moving from Orange County to San Diego, so you're right, it is a big difference.

Best move he'll ever make. Orange County sucks.

 

[braluk]

schools are definitely expanding nowadays. UNDNJ is in talks of expanding its med school and opening up another satellite school somewhere (i believe). great for the future, sucks for us now

 

[jackieMD2007]

I don't know about you all, but I think Santa Barbara would be a gorgeous place for a medical school. But Cottage Hospital is kinda small...

 

[UCLAstudent]

I think that it's more likely that the med school will end up at UC Riverside --- and then the UCR/UCLA 7-year program would probably just become a UCR program completely.

Interesting thing that I read: Loma Linda doesn't want UCR to establish a med school without building a new hospital to go along with it because the UCR students will end up using some of the resources (preceptorship positions, clerkships, hospitals) that once belonged solely to Loma Linda students.

 

[BozoSparky]

Yea...I agree that Fresno would definitely be the place to put a central Cali med school.

aaaahhhH! I am from Fresno, too. I can't believe how they blow it sometimes.

 

[socal78]

I think that it's more likely that the med school will end up at UC Riverside --- and then the UCR/UCLA 7-year program would probably just become a UCR program completely.

Interesting thing that I read: Loma Linda doesn't want UCR to establish a med school without building a new hospital to go along with it because the UCR students will end up using some of the resources (preceptorship positions, clerkships, hospitals) that once belonged solely to Loma Linda students.

thats not very christian of them...