LOS ANGELES, March 23, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science today announced that the minority-based medical school's graduating students this year were all successfully matched to their choice of medical residency programs - many of which are among the most prestigious in the nation.
"This year 100% of all graduates participating in Charles Drew University's medical residency training match successfully found their place in the sun, and nothing could make any of us prouder," said Dr. Susan Kelly, the University's President and CEO. "This is tangible evidence of our school's ability to offer a quality and diverse education for medical students that is second to none. Furthermore, this underscores the recognition of our students across the country as among the best and the brightest."
Senior medical students from all over the country are notified each year on March 15 of their match status to residency programs. Over half of Charles Drew's graduates matched in primary care specialties (Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Pediatrics, among others), with the balance matched in subspecialties like Neurosurgery, Dermatology, Radiology, Ophthalmology and Anesthesiology.
Among the prestigious hospital training programs where The Charles Drew University students matched were University of California in San Francisco, CA; Northwestern University in Evanston, IL; the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN; UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA; Beth Israel Medical Center (Harvard Medical School) in Boston, MA; and the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. Almost 60% of the students will remain in California for their residency programs.
In addition, for the second year in a row, the percentage of Drew/UCLA medical students elected to the national medical honor society (Alpha Omega Alpha) was approximately twice the national average. The Drew/UCLA medical education program is a unique partnership between the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, with a special mission of serving the chronically underserved.
A private non-profit educational institution in the Watts-Willowbrook area of South Los Angeles, The Charles Drew University has provided quality undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate education and training to thousands of qualified minority and other students since 1971.
As part of its mission, the University's graduates have provided urgently needed healthcare services to millions of chronically underserved residents of the poorest communities in Los Angeles County. The acclaimed medical school was founded in the wake of the Watts Rebellion in 1965, in response to the celebrated McCone Commission report that called for solutions to the lack of medical care for the historically underserved area. The University is widely regarded as an innovative medical education university pioneering in the education of doctors and other healthcare professionals and conducting culturally appropriate research that rapidly turns best evidence into improved clinical practice.
According to a California Wellness Foundation report, more than one-third of all underrepresented minority doctors practicing in Los Angeles County received training at The Charles Drew University. It has graduated more than 2,500 specialist physicians, 400 medical doctors, and more than 2, 000 physician's assistants and many other health professionals. The University has also conducted innovative biomedical research, and ranks in the top 10% of institutions for research funding from the National Institutes of Health and among the top 50 private universities for research.
For further information, visit The Charles Drew University website at http://www.cdrewu.edu.