Asked about the current state of the health care system and profound changes taking place at the University, UCSF’s newest crop of students seems most concerned with an old problem -- access to basic health care.

The merger of UCSF and Stanford medical centers is viewed favorably by most incoming students, many of whom started classes yesterday. And the UC Regent’s ban on affirmative action in admissions, the effects of which are being felt for the first time with this incoming class, does not seem to be an issue with those interviewed at last Thursday’s student fair in the Millberry Union. Instead, most are concerned about the growing ranks of the uninsured.

“I like the idea of [providing] basic health care to more people,” says Seth Holmes, a first-year medical student from Spokane, Wash., who has a strong interest in public health. “It’s the ideal situation but I don’t know if it’s actually happening,” says Anjali Gupta, also a first-year medical student. Nursing students Karla Garcia, Karmen Jones and Stacie Onstad echo these concerns. “People don’t have enough insurance,” Garcia says. “Everybody should have access,” Jones adds.

Asked if they were concerned about the reported overabundance of physicians in the US, medical students Holmes and Gupta were confident that they would be able to find jobs when the time comes. “I’m not worried because I know we’re getting really good training at UCSF,” Gupta says.
The merger of clinical services with Stanford is generally well received; however, students had some reservations. Holmes thinks the merger with Stanford is a great idea. “There’s not a big enough patient base to support two top hospitals,” Holmes says. Gupta is supportive but somewhat leery. “I just hope it doesn’t negatively impact our education,” she says.

First-year nursing student Marcia Wetz, who has been a nurse at the UCSF Medical Center since 1982, does not support the merger. “I wonder how it will affect the philosophy and mission of UCSF,” she says. Wetz does not believe the Medical Center should be “separated” from the University. “It may not be able to operate at the same level of excellence,” she says.

The initiative passed by UC Regents in July 1995 to abolish affirmative action in admissions took effect with graduate school classes entering this fall and will apply to undergraduates next year. The School of Medicine’s entering class underrepresented minorities enrollment has been gradually decreasing over the past few years, falling from 41 in 1995 to 29 last year and to 26 this fall, according to Michael Drake, associate dean of the UCSF medical school. However, many incoming students did not take the University’s affirmative action policy into consideration when deciding where to go to graduate school.

“I based my choice on UCSF being a great school,” says Maya Kaushal, a pharmaceutical chemistry student. “The choice is made on what you expect from the institution,” adds first-year nursing student Gregory Norwood. “You go to the best place you can go.”

By Paula Murphy

1st appeared 09/23/97