Welcome to Porterville College Med PEP (Medicos Para El Pueblo)

The MedPEP Program was established at Porterville College in the Fall of 2007 and was made possible through a grant by the California Endowment in collaboration with UCLA MedPEP and its center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture.

  • Program Goal: To increase the number of community college students pursuing professional health careers and applying to four-year universities.
  • Our Mission: To improve health care in our rural areas by providing incentives for healthcare professionals to return to their communities to help serve the underserved.
  • Components: We will accomplish our mission, goal and objectives through the following six components:
    1. Academics Preparation and Tutoring
    2. Support Services
    3. Parental involvement
    4. Application assistance
    5. Exposure to practicing health professionals
    6. Community service and service learning

Our specific objectives aim to :

  1. Increase the interest of students in the health professions-particularly those who do well in math and science classes starting at middle school through the community college.
  2. Identify key educators such as math and science teachers as well as counselor/advisors that can identify students who have the potential to do well in the core math and science courses and who will welcome interactions with MedPEP staff members on a regular basis for the purpose to recruit students.
  3. Strengthen the self-esteem, confidence, and the academic know-how of students through summer and winter institutes as well as workshops focusing on reading comprehension, analytical reasoning and mathematical computation.
  4. Solidify student commitment to pursue a health profession via health fairs, conferences, college visitations, and one-to-one guidance.
  5. Assist students in compiling a portfolio of accomplishments while strengthening their ability to articulate their personal and professional goals by getting admitted to residential summer programs and approved internships.
  6. Increase the number of local students applying to four-year universities and most importantly, the number of those getting admitted to health career programs.
  7. Establish a transfer admission guarantee to our transferring PC MedPEP students to UCLA as college juniors.
  8. Strengthen parent involvement and awareness of the local health needs and health professions in general via parenting courses, university field trips, and health conferences.
  9. Provide MedPEP students a community service experience that will instill a community service perspective to attract health professional to work in rural communities.
  10. Work closely with the UCLA MedPEP program and Center for the Studies of Latino Health and Culture to develop networking, program strategies, the coordination of resources and the dissemination of research findings.
  11. Develop a web page that highlights the programs mission, goals, and objectives; the web page will also include a chat component so that students can interact with Chicanos/Latino MedPEP students, interns, educators, and other professionals.
  12. Develop and maintain a viable library media database of Chicano/Latino college students at the universities as well as profiles of interns and health care professionals from the central valley rural areas (Tulare, Kings and Kerns Counties),UCLA, and other agencies and institutions that employ community-minded health care professionals.