A small slice of Stanford’s Medical School was at the Bakersfield College campus Aug. 29.
Stanford’s Primary Care Associate Program, a section of the school’s General Medicine Disciplines, gave an informative lecture on their Physicians Assistant program and how BC students could enter their curriculum.
Approximately 70 students of various medical field majors attended the lecture in the Science and Engineering building.
Stanford’s Physicians Assistant program was founded in 1971, one of the first in the country behind Duke University. It is also the least expensive Physicians Assistant program in the nation.
It is an expedited, 21-month program that prepares P.A’s to work directly with doctors in underserved populations.
Representing Stanford was Fred M. Tovar, director of Student Affairs, assistant director of Admissions, and coordinator of the Medical College Admission Test Academy.
Tovar, who has worked for Stanford for 12 years and also held public office three times, explained the P.A. as being “the doctor’s right hand man.”
He conveyed the importance of competitive applicants, and he also shared his enthusiasm for students from the Kern County area and BC scholars. A BC graduate was there to help students gain a perspective on the program.
Jennifer Aleman-Ocampo, who graduated from BC’s registered nursing program in 2007, is now about to graduate from the P.A. program at Stanford.
“It is a great opportunity,” said Aleman-Ocampo.
Aleman-Ocampo spent her 41 clinical weeks in an “underserved” community in Bakersfield, working in a mobile Medical-Surgical-Telemetry unit as a nurse.
“I have only good things to say about BC. It helped me a lot to establish good study techniques and I met great professors,” she said.
She also reiterated that although the course is hard, it is definitely “do-able.”
When asked to give a word to prospective students for the course, Aleman-Ocampo was encouraging.
“It has taken a lot work, but don’t give up. If you have a passion for medicine, actively pursue it.”
Students considering entering the program need prerequisites in anatomy, physiology, microbiology and GPA’s must be above 3.0 to be competitive, said Tovar, again stressing the need to be an aggressive applicant.
As well as high marks in the prerequisites, students must also have 1.5 years of “direct patient care,” such as an EMT or registered nurse to even be considered.
“When you get to Stanford, be prepared to work,” said Tovar.
Although technically the course is a satellite through Foothill College located near the Stanford campus, all teaching is done at Stanford University and the degree earned is from there, too.
After 21 weeks of didactic study, students then complete 41 weeks of clinical study. Ranging from four weeks of inpatient treatment and four weeks in surgery to 1-2 weeks of psychology.
While in the course, students are also encouraged to get a master’s in Medical Science from San Jose State University, which Tovar assured is workable.
Students interested in more information on the program can contact BC professor Joe Saldivar in his office at SE 49B or at 395-4099.