MODESTO – A Stanislaus County man is one step closer to becoming a doctor after winning a full scholarship to medical school.
Sutter Health announced she is one of only five people in the state to receive the scholarship.
“I never imagined a girl like me from the Central Valley would apply for a scholarship like this,” said Anaisa Mehdi, a scholarship recipient at Sutter Health’s College of Medicine.
Medina is originally from Salida but currently attends Charles Drew University, a historically black college that serves the Watts community in South Los Angeles.
She is one of five scholarship recipients to attend medical school in California on a full scholarship.
But she remembers personal experiences where she and her family ran into language barriers and struggled to understand the health care system.
“The language barrier was huge, and my family dealt with that. One of the big reasons they didn’t seek medical care was because they were like, ‘How am I going to communicate with them because I don’t understand what they’re saying?'” she said. “I remember my grandmother breathing a sigh of relief and having tears in her eyes when she finally found a place that could help her.”
It’s a feeling Medina hopes no other family ever has to experience.
“Growing up as a young girl, I never saw anyone like me in these roles,” Medina said.
Medina still has to attend medical school, but once he graduates he plans to start applying for residency positions.
a New Accredited Residency Programs It was created for Memorial Medical Center in Modesto.
The school plans to accept students next year, and for Medina, that’s exactly what she was looking for.
“When you look at out-of-state schools, they’re typically filled up with California medical students because there isn’t enough space in California, so this is an opportunity for us to bring them back home,” said Dr. Robert Altman, CEO of Gould Medical Group.
“It’s a dream to come back to the Central Valley and serve there. There is a huge physician shortage in the Central Valley and I want to go back and help solve that problem,” Medina said.
The residency program is expected to begin accepting applications in spring 2025.
Thirty-nine doctors will be brought to Stanislaus County in hopes of developing a unique medical team.
