CHSU welcomes Cohort 4 of aspiring doctors

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- A new group of students began training on Monday with California Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

This fourth cohort marks a milestone for the Clovis campus.

Students starting the 4-year program today will not only get the opportunity to learn, but they get the chance to practice firsthand before being put in real-life situations.

The Osteopathic Medicine program at CHSU which started in 2020, now has around 500 students enrolled. The Clovis campus is aiming to help solve the shortage of doctors in Fresno County and surrounding areas.

"We know the Central Valley has a big deficit of physicians, and our goal is to create physicians to practice here. We have 23% of our current new students from the Central Valley," said Mattie Bendall, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, at California Health Sciences University.

In the U.S. physicians can have an MD degree, which means they are a "Doctor of Medicine," or a D-O, which stands for Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine.

The university's focus is centered around Osteopathy, the holistic approach to medicine.

"Osteopathic medicine is to understand the body, mind, and spirit. Not necessarily just fixing an issue but really looking at what makes up that physician," explained Bendall.

The 4-year program offers a state-of-the-art simulation center that provides students with a hands-on learning experience.

It attracts aspiring doctors from all over the country motivated to help their families and community.

"I'm coming from south Florida, west of Florida to be specific," said Derek Rojas, Student Doctor with CHSU of Osteopathic Medicine

"Growing up my father had chronic kidney disease and needed a transplant so he was really really sick, and I would go with him to his dialysis when I was in middle school, so when I would get out of school I would go with him," added Rojas.

The simulation center is equipped with mannequins to help students train for real-life situations including heart attacks, strokes, and even childbirth.

"It's a safe environment for our students to learn, nobody laughs, nobody criticizes. It's just a way of giving feedback to our students and saying hey you did this well, you did that well, hey you may want to work on this," said Bendall.

The first cohort of students who began in 2020 are gearing up to graduate in May of 2024. The university plans on opening 10 colleges on its campus, which will lead to more buildings and hopefully more doctors.

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