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The 2016 Health Diversity Award from one of the country’s largest pharmacy chains is a five-year grant to help the college launch “Prospero Program: Pathway to Pharmacy Careers,” an initiative to introduce Central Valley Hispanic and bilingual high school students to pharmacy careers.

California Health Sciences University was the only school in the nation to receive the full grant award.

“This new, five year pathway program will prepare high school students to serve the health care needs of our Hispanic/Latino community,” stated Florence Dunn, president at California Health Sciences University. “We will provide education and patient care experiences to help students transition from high school to 2- or 4-year colleges and then to CHSU College of Pharmacy to become Spanish-speaking pharmacists.”

Through an existing partnership providing medical career pathway options to high school students, the university is collaborating with Clovis Unified School District and Clovis Community College to ensure the Próspero Program, Pathway to Pharmacy Careers is successful. The new program will be launched within Clovis Unified School District, inviting eleventh and twelfth grade students taking the Medical Careers class at their high school to apply.
 
“We are proud to collaborate with California Health Sciences University as part of our Career Technical Education initiative,” said Dr. Janet Young, superintendent for Clovis Unified School District. “This program will provide our students with additional training, knowledge, and exposure to health care careers, many they may not know about otherwise. More importantly, our students have the option to fast-track to pharmacy school and a rewarding career.”