Many students dream of becoming doctors, but few have the means to do so. Not only is medical school extremely competitive, but also, expensive. However, the California Latino Legislative Caucus is looking to address some of these issues by moving forward a package of bills that focuses on funding education, and in particular, a Future Physician program in California. As reported by ABC: 

“The mission of the Caucus is ‘to identify, promote and advocate on behalf of the professional, educational, social, political and cultural interests of the Latino community.’ The Caucus is made up of members from the State Senate and Assembly and on Wednesday, the Caucus voted to prioritize 20 bills for this legislative session. Out of the 20 bills, nine of them focus on education.

‘This package of bills aims to address issues that our communities feel every day – economic inequity, environmental injustices, inadequate healthcare, and the rights of immigrants, to name a few,’ said Caucus Chair Senator María Elena Durazo, D-Los Angeles. ‘Our mission is to put these inequities front and center and to fight for policies that will create better outcomes for all Californians.’

Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua, D-Stockton, is pushing Assemby Bill 2132, also known as the California Future Physician Fund, to address California’s shortage of physicians and medical professionals. The California Future Physician Fund is sponsored by the California Medical Association, which represents more than 50,000 physicians.

The bill creates a pilot program to provide scholarships to students in underserved communities from undergrad through medical school. Following the completion of their residency programs, these students will continue to provide care in the same communities they were educated in for a specified period of time.” 

Seeing as medical professionals are one of the most in-demand jobs, with the fastest growth rates, we think a fund like this is sorely needed to address inequality in education opportunities for promising students. We’ll be following the (hopeful) passing of this pilot program.