WASHINGTON - January 16 - The next generation of doctors has a different prescription for the health of California. Alarmed by the growing disparity in healthcare statewide, medical and pre-medical students from California universities will converge on the state capitol at 12 PM on Jan. 16th, 2007 to demand an expansion of healthcare access to all Californians.

This gathering will mark the largest ever coordinated effort by California medical students to promote universal healthcare. More than 300 students are expected to demonstrate on the capitol steps, followed by meetings with State Senators and Assembly Members. The event is being organized by local chapters of the American Medical Student Association (AMSA), which is the oldest and largest independent association of physicians-in-training in the United States.

The rally and legislative visits will largely support an upcoming California State Senate bill authored by Senator Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) that proposes to establish the California Health Insurance Agency, which would provide single-payer healthcare coverage to all residents of California. Its 2005 predecessor, senate bill 840, passed the State Senate and Assembly last year before being vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. Senator Kuehl is the keynote speaker at the rally and will address the students at 12 PM.

“That our newest generation of doctors is exhibiting such a strong commitment to universal health care means it is only a matter of time until it becomes a reality,” said Kuehl. “In a system faced with growing numbers of uninsured and medical bankruptcies, as well as rapidly deteriorating quality of care, these future doctors are acting to protect not only their future patients, but also their own ability to practice good medicine. We must listen.”

Now topping over 6.5 million, the burgeoning number of medically-uninsured state residents has sparked widespread activism among healthcare professionals and legislative action.

Second-year medical student David Brown, co-president of the AMSA chapter at the University of California at Irvine School of Medicine, helped coordinate the rally. “If our generation of physicians hopes to overcome the obstacles that impede our ability to deliver care, we must take an active part in the policy-making that shapes our profession,” Brown said.

A worldwide study conducted in 2000 by the World Health Organization ranked the U.S. healthcare system at 37th in overall performance.

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