Section 92720 Of Chapter 9. Community-based Health Professions Education Partnership Program From California Education Code >> Division 9. >> Title 3. >> Part 57. >> Chapter 9.
92720
. The Legislature hereby finds and declares, as follows:
(a) There is an inadequate supply of physicians, family nurse
practitioners, and physician assistants who provide primary care to
individuals and families in low-income urban and rural areas of
California.
(b) Current training for health professionals, which occurs almost
exclusively in clinics and hospitals, rarely provides students with
opportunities to provide community-based medical care to families in
low-income neighborhoods. As a result, relatively few health
professionals choose to practice in low-income neighborhoods after
completion of their training.
(c) Most medical graduates are unprepared to deal with the complex
interwoven social, cultural, economic, environmental, and
educational aspects of disease prevention and health promotion. As a
result, health professionals frequently have limited impact on the
prevention or treatment of entrenched community health problems,
including teen pregnancy, substance abuse, and domestic violence.
(d) Community-based education for health professionals has proven
successful in other states, including Washington and Kentucky, in
doing all of the following:
(1) Increasing the number of primary care health professionals
practicing in low-income areas.
(2) Promoting the use of multi-disciplinary teams composed of
health and human services professionals to jointly address community
health problems.
(e) It is in the state's best interest that California medical
schools be encouraged to develop coursework and practice for
community-based education as a part of professional training for
physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. It is
further in the state's best interest that community-based education
programs be evaluated to determine their effects on increasing the
number of health care professionals practicing in low-income,
medically underserved communities.