California Health Sciences University in Clovis welcomed its seventh cohort of medical students Monday as 162 students began their journey toward becoming physicians at the CHSU College of Osteopathic Medicine.

The Class of 2030 includes students from across California, with 36% coming from the Central Valley and about 90% from within the state. CHSU officials said the goal is for many graduates to complete their residencies and continue practicing medicine in the region.

The new class brings the number of medical students enrolled at CHSU-COM to more than 640. Since launching its medical school in 2020, CHSU has matriculated more than 1,000 medical students. The university was founded in 2012 and later became central California’s first medical school.

“With our seventh cohort starting their medical school journey this week, we are proud to have matriculated over 1,000 medical students since we launched in 2020,” said John Graneto, DO, dean of the CHSU College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Student Shares Why She Chose CHSU

Among the incoming students is Tulare native Virginia Lopez, who said CHSU’s mission of serving underserved communities was a major reason she chose to attend the university.

“Its goal and its mission, it just aligns with what I value, personally, just serving the underserved people,” Lopez said. “We have a lot of underserved populations. Some people don’t have the ability to have insurance. So just being local and being able to target those populations, I think it’s a really big fit.”

Lopez earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from UC Merced before returning to her hometown of Tulare, where she started a family with her husband and two sons. Years later, she became an emergency medical scribe and earned a master’s degree in public health from the University of Southern California.

“CHSU remaining local, we can help eliminate the shortage of doctors in the Central Valley, which I think is very important,” Lopez said.

More Than 3,700 Candidates Applied

The incoming class includes graduates from several California universities, including Fresno State, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UCLA, UC Merced, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Riverside. CHSU’s Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences program has also served as a pathway to medical school, with 30 graduates accepted into CHSU-COM.

More than 3,700 candidates applied for fall 2026 admission, with several hundred applicants interviewed before selected students received admission offers following a review process that considered factors including MCAT scores, GPA trends, letters of recommendation, personal statements, interviews, and prerequisite coursework.

As Lopez begins medical school, she said she has been encouraged by the welcoming environment at CHSU.

“Everybody is so friendly, so nice, so eager to help,” Lopez said. “They have an open door policy, so which I’m excited about, and it seems like it’s a very warm environment for any incoming student.”

Pursue Your Goals: Lopez

Lopez said her path to medical school was not a traditional one, but she encouraged others to continue pursuing their goals.

“As somebody who took gap years and formed a family, my journey might not be your journey and that’s OK,” Lopez said. “You have the right to explore and obviously at the end of the day, you still have to take the MCAT. You still have take the prerequisites. So as long as it’s your dream, you can make it a goal and it will happen.”

Having already graduated its first three cohorts of osteopathic physicians, CHSU said it continues its mission of training and retaining physicians to serve the local community. The first three graduating classes in 2024, 2025 and 2026 achieved a 100% residency match rate.

(Disclosure: GV Wire Publisher Darius Assemi is one of CHSU’s founders.)

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