To truly improve lives, UCLA faculty, researchers and students must leave the confines of the campus and connect directly with people in their communities. That is the goal of our community engagement initiative.
Today, community engagement is, with teaching, patient care and research, among the core missions of UCLA Health and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
We must also work toward training workers in the allied healthcare professions - the pharmacy technicians, medical assistants, physical therapists, among others. Toward this goal, we propose to partner with the schools that train allied-healthcare professionals -- the community colleges and the Cal State system. By doing this we will create within our hospital system high-quality internships and clinical experiences for their students.
It is all of those people to whom we provide patient care. It involves people working within our service-learning and research partnerships; and it involves our donor community, whose creativity and generosity are essential to helping UCLA maintain excellence and stay nationally competitive.
