Molina Healthcare, Inc., a multi-state managed care organization, has donated $50,000 to the UCLA International Medical Graduates program, and Dr. J. Mario Molina, the organization's chief executive officer, has contributed $50,000 to the program through his donor-advised fund at Peninsula Community Foundation.

International medical graduates, or IMGs, are physicians who have graduated from medical schools outside of the United States, Puerto Rico or Canada. UCLA's IMG pilot program helps IMG physicians compete for primary care residency training positions in U.S. teaching hospitals and assists them in obtaining their medical licenses with the goal of allowing them to work in underserved Hispanic and other minority communities upon completion of their residency training.

According to recent data from the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, 20 percent of Californians, or nearly 6.9 million people, live in medically underserved areas without access to primary health care. Among Hispanics in California, the lack of access to care is even more acute, with some 3.8 million living in these underserved areas. Several studies have documented that black and Hispanic physicians are more likely to practice in such underserved communities. At present, Hispanics make up 31 percent of the state's population but represent only 4 percent of the state's physicians. The new IMG pilot program at UCLA will help close this gap.

"With the growing changes in demographics throughout California and the United States, it is important for patients to feel comfortable with their doctors," Molina said. "At Molina, we understand that cultural competency and linguistics are an important aspect of health care. We are happy to contribute to the International Medical Graduates program because we know this program will produce bilingual doctors who will help meet health care needs in underserved communities."

The IMG program, conceived and housed within the department of family medicine in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, was established nearly a year ago to help IMGs prepare for the residency training programs that are required for licensure in the United States. Currently, six IMG physicians are enrolled. The IMG pre-residency preparation program provides training, educational materials and a stipend in the hope that enrollees will obtain residency positions and go on to become board-certified primary care physicians and practice in underserved areas within the state. The pilot program is endorsed by the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and funded solely through donations from contributors like Molina Healthcare.

"Molina Healthcare has been a longtime supporter of our community medicine programs, including our pipeline programs to interest more minority students, starting in high school, in careers in health care," said Dr. Patrick T. Dowling, professor and chair of the UCLA Department of Family Medicine. "The David Geffen School of Medicine is extremely thankful for their generous donation. This program is unusual because it provides a monthly stipend for IMG physicians to help offset the cost of tuition, living expenses and other costs associated with attaining their license to practice in the United States. If they make it, the students will graduate in 2007. Since there is no state money allocated for this program, the only reason it is up and running is because of the generous private donations of supporters like Molina Healthcare."

Molina Healthcare, Inc. is a multi-state managed care organization that arranges for the delivery of health care services to persons eligible for Medicaid and other government-sponsored programs for low-income families and individuals. Molina Healthcare, Inc. currently operates health plans in California, Indiana, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Utah and Washington. Additional information about Molina Healthcare, Inc. can be viewed at www.molinahealthcare.com.

The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA ranks among the nation's elite medical schools, producing doctors and researchers whose contributions have led to major breakthroughs in health care. With more than 2,000 full-time faculty members, nearly 1,300 residents, more than 750 medical students and almost 400 Ph.D. candidates, the medical school is ranked seventh in the country in research funding from the National Institutes of Health and third in the United States in research dollars from all sources.

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