The LCOE APP at Fresno State/UC Merced

Meet our Team

Dr. Katherine Flores, UCSF LCOE Faculty, Director of the UCSF Fresno Latino Center for Medical Education and Research (LaCMER).

Greetings! My name is Dr. Katherine Flores. I am a Family Physician in Fresno, California where I work in a group practice providing healthcare to a diverse group of patients. I am also an Associate Clinical Professor with the UCSF School of Medicine and am located at the Fresno Branch Campus.

I serve as the APP faculty lead for the Fresno State and UCM sites. I chose to work with the LCOE APP because of my firm commitment to providing mentorship for students who are interested in pursuing a health profession, particularly medicine. APP offers students exposure to physicians from a variety of backgrounds and in a number of different disciplines and settings. It provides an introduction to the AMCAS application and a step-by-step overview of how to approach it. The program introduces students to health policy and how health policies impact underserved communities, both good and bad. It also demonstrates to students how they can make a difference as health professionals in the health policy arena. Students get exposure to Community-Based Organizations that provide services to communities that intersect with health. Perhaps most importantly, APP students have the opportunity to work with UCSF SOM LCOE staff who are committed to helping them be competitive applicants to medical school, including helping them develop their unique timelines and reviewing personal statements.

What I enjoy the most about being a part of APP is the interaction with students who are committed to and passionate about working with underserved communities in the Central Valley. Si se puede!

Students | OpenScholar Dr. Jazmine Kenny, Health Policy Instructor

Dr. Jazmine Kenny is the Health Policy instructor for the Aspiring Physician Program. She started working with the LCOE as a Public Health PhD graduate student, where she developed the health policy course curriculum. Dr. Kenny has expertise in community-based participatory research, program evaluation, and qualitative research methods. Her experience working directly with San Joaquin Valley CBOs, health providers, and government organizations provides Jazmine with diverse health policy perspectives.

By taking the health policy course, students will learn about the U.S. healthcare system and how laws and policies impact people’s health. The goal of the course is for students to become advocates as future healthcare professionals.

Every summer, Jazmine looks forward to teaching the health policy course and working with a dedicated team invested in helping students find their careers in healthcare. Plus, teaching at a medical school has been a dream of hers!

Paz Paz Delsid, Administrative Support for Dr. Katherine Flores

My role within the APP program is to support Dr. Flores as faculty for the Fresno cohort. Over the years, I have seen how much more successful students are in being accepted into medical school. The sessions, whether counseling, hands-on, or guest speaker, are truly informative and inspirational. One thing I have noticed is that the more “successful” students are those that ask questions and participate fully in the meetings that are part of the program. You get out of it, what you put into it. I really enjoy being part of this group. All the faculty, coordinators, and staff are so personable and amazing at what they do. Seeing the admissions rate and the updates from past cohorts, it is great to know that I am playing a part in creating more physicians for the Valley.

For more information on the LCOE Aspiring Physicians Program at Fresno State/UC Merced, please contact:

Yoselin G Castillo, Research Analyst
Email: [email protected]