California Health Sciences University is welcoming 162 new students into its College of Osteopathic Medicine this month with a record 44% of the Class of 2029 coming from the Central Valley.

The class also includes 14 alumni from Fresno State, the highest number from that university. In total, about 90% of the incoming students are from California.

“It is exciting to have a record 44% Central Valley students in this cohort, with Fresno State alum topping the list,” said Dr. John Graneto, dean of the CHSU College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Other top feeder schools for the incoming class include UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UCLA, UC Merced, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, and USC.

CHSU has partnered with Fresno State since its founding and formally launched the CHSU “Future DOctor” program in 2024 to strengthen the local pipeline.

Fresno State Graduate Says Fresno Is a Medical Desert

For Jenna Markarian, a Fresno State graduate, staying local was a clear choice. Her experience working in the emergency room at St. Agnes Hospital shaped her career path.

“I’m really interested in science and how the human body works,” she said. “Working in the ER I think that was my first eye-opening experience of wow there is a problem here in Fresno and I think our own people should address it.”

Markarian first landed the ER role after joining Fresno State’s Health Careers and Opportunity Program, which led her to become a medical scribe. She later enrolled in CHSU’s master’s program to prepare for medical school.

“I realized that I can handle a rigorous and stressful environment, because we were learning insane things you’re gonna be learning in medical school. I realized I could handle it,” she said.

Markarian said CHSU’s mission to address the physician shortage in the region was a major factor in her decision. “CHSU is addressing the medical desert here within Fresno with our own community and keeping physicians here,” she said.

Student Credits Her Medical Journey to Personal Experience

Another incoming student, Niccole Haskins, a Fresno State graduate, also found her calling through local experience and personal inspiration. Haskins, originally from the Philippines, was drawn to medicine after witnessing the challenges her childhood friend faced living with spina bifida.

“He had to go to Valley Children’s a lot and even Sutter Hospital in Sacramento for surgeries,” Haskins said. “I didn’t focus on his ailment — he was a person and that was the first time I understood what it meant to be a patient or a family member.”

Haskins moved to San Diego at 15 and later transferred to Fresno State after community college. She became more involved in the medical field during the pandemic and worked as a scribe in downtown Fresno through UCSF Fresno.

“I could see the difficulties, the disparities people face that a lot of people, especially people in downtown, a lot them face homelessness, poverty and drug abuse,” she said.

Now preparing to begin her first year, Haskins said she’s excited about the tools CHSU provides students. “I love how new and how much the school invests in students. For example, the Butterfly ultrasound is a tremendous tool,” she said.

Eying a Future as Local Doctors

Both students say they are inspired by CHSU’s focus on serving the community and hope to eventually practice medicine in the Central Valley.

“I’d love to stay local and even even if it’s not in the Central Valley I would love to come back as an attending (physician) one day,” Markarian said.

“All these people need so much care in Fresno and even the surrounding areas of the Valley,” Haskins said.

(Disclosure: GV Wire Publisher Darius Assemi is one of CHSU’s founders and a member of its board of trustees.)

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