Building on the accomplishments of UCR faculty, the Health Sciences Initiative aims to strengthen and focus research and graduate education in the biomedical and related health sciences at UCR.
Programs
The HSI has three major programs:
- The Health Sciences Research Institute;
- Establishment of the Center for Clinical Medical Education which will coordinate rotations in area hospitals and clinics for third- and fourth-year medical students and residency programs for recently graduated M.D.s; and
- Expansion of the two-year UCR/UCLA Thomas Haider Program in Biomedical Sciences to a full-scale, four-year, research-based School of Medicine.
Planning
During 2005-2010, the overall strategic planning and implementation of UCR's Health Sciences Initiative are being overseen and coordinated by the Health Sciences Planning Council, composed of eleven UCR faculty and staff. An Administrative Steering Group composed of ten members is responsible for the HSI administrative planning and coordination.
UCR also intends to establish a Center for Clinical Medical Education, roughly patterned after the UCSF/Fresno program, in collaboration with UCLA. In its initial phase the Center will coordinate rotations for third- and fourth-year medical students and, over time, develop residencies in speciality areas to bolster the supply of physicians in the Inland Empire.
Guidance
The Chancellor’s Community Forum on Health Care Initiatives, which consists of a broad base of the region’s leading physicians, healthcare administrators, elected officials and community leaders, is assisting UCR through the HSI. In February 2006, the University appointed a prestigious External Advisory Board to guide the campus in its plans to acquire a medical school.