A United Medical Consortium Sees a Path for Establishing a Rural Northern California Medical School

The need is great.  The task is formidable.  The all-star team has been assembled. 

December 11, 2025

The Need is Great – A Rural Northern California Medical Education Consortium (“Consortium”) has been formed that includes a broad coalition of health care professionals, educators, and community leaders to tackle a crisis facing the North State.  Shasta County and 16 other Northern California rural counties have a critical shortage of physicians and other healthcare providers, and many of the physicians practicing in the area will be retiring soon which will only make a bad situation worse.  The deficit of healthcare providers has a direct impact on death rates, which are much worse in rural counties.  Shasta County’s age-adjusted death rate for various causes is 53% higher than the California averages.

There are thirteen medical schools in California, but none of them are located between Sacramento and Portland.  Not only is there a shortage of medical schools in Northern California, but there is also a shortage for California as a whole in relation to the State’s population.  California ranks 43^rd among 46 states with medical schools for the number of state resident students enrolled per 100,000 state population.  This situation creates a “brain drain” with California medical students leaving the state to enroll in medical schools where more slots are available.  Approximately 60% of California medical students enroll out-of-state, exporting talent to states like New York or Texas.  63% of physicians who graduate from any California medical school (in-state or out-of-state) remain in California to practice. Nationally, residency location is the strongest predictor of practice state (68% retention from residency state).

A recent report shared on ABC7 KRCR News as well as Redding Record Searchlight, on November 12th indicates that some help solving the region's physician shortage is coming out of the UC Davis School of Medicine. The school is now expanding its medical program to rural counties by allowing medical students to train in hospitals in Shasta, Humboldt and Nevada counties. It's a three-year accelerated program called Rural Accelerated Competency-based Education in Primary Care and Psychiatry. The partner health care organizations in Shasta County are Shasta Community Health Center, Hill Country Community Clinic, Shasta Public Health, and Dignity Health Mercy Redding Family Practice Residency Program. Redding Record Searchlight reported that, per Dr. Amanda Mooneyham, a family medicine physician affiliated with Mercy Medical Center, "Students will spend their third year of medical school in either Shasta, Humboldt or Nevada counties, and then ideally, three years of residency in those counties."

The Task is Formidable – A new medical school should meet the needs of rural, frontier, and tribal communities in the rural North State and serve Butte, Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, and Yuba counties.  Per a December 8, 2025, Press Release by the Consortium, site visits to successful rural medical schools in other states will be conducted first to learn from their examples.  The list of recently founded rural medical schools includes University of Pikeville-Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine, Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine, Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences – College of Osteopathic Medicine, Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine – Mayo Clinic Arizona Campus, and California Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Clovis, CA (Central Valley).

$30 - $50 Million in start-up funds needs to be raised.  The plans are to pursue several large Federal or State grants. Partnerships with tribal nations, local hospitals and clinics need to be formed to build medical pipelines, residency programs, and sub-specialty fellowships.  Work also needs to be done to educate and inform the community to support chronic disease prevention and improve access to primary care, mental health and specialty services.  A nonprofit entity will be formed, and needed accreditation from WSCUC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges- Senior College and University Commission) and LCME (Liasion Committee on Medical Education) will be obtained, developing clinical rotation capacity across all 17 counties.  A formal feasibility study and multi-year strategic plan will be prepared and letters of support from hospitals, clinics, tribal nations, education institutions, economic leaders, and regional stakeholders are in the works now.

The All-Star Team Has Been Assembled – Calling themselves the Rural Northern California Medical Education Consortium, a team of professionals has been assembled to work on creating the vision, plans, and execution of a new medical school serving the North State counties.  Prior to its formation, several other independent groups had been exploring the creation of a medical school, including Shasta County Board of Supervisors with consultant Chriss Street, and a Physician-Driven Redding Initiative launched by Dr. Paul Dhanuka, a gastroenterologist and President of the North Valley Medical Association.  Dr. Dhanuka is bringing members from all of the groups together which also now includes two representatives from SHARC (Shasta Heath Assessment and Redesign Collaborative).  The team as of today includes the following regional leaders from medicine, public health, higher education, tribal health, and community organizations:

·      Norman D. Hall, EdD, President, Simpson University

·      Gretchen Melburg, MSN, MBA, FNP-BC, Clinical Leader, Wellness Redding

·      Irene Salter, PhD, Neuroscientist, Science Educator, Leadership Coach

·      Paul Wang, MD, Regional Director, Vituity

·      Paul Dhanuka, MD, Gastroenterologist; President, North Valley Medical Association; Redding City Council Member; Assistant Clinical Professor, UC Davis Health

·      Christy Coleman, MPA, Director, Shasta County Health and Human Services Agency

·      Robin Schurig, SHARC Director

·      Dean Germano, Former CEO, Shasta Community Health Center

·      Todd Smith, President and CEO, Mercy Medical Center

The team has been meeting monthly since July of this year and put out their press release to provide accurate information for community engagement as the Consortium continues to build on the momentum for creating a blueprint for success. 

Dr. Norman Hall believes “Establishing a medical school in the North State would be one of the most transformative investments in our region’s history.  It has the potential to reshape healthcare access, strengthen our communities, and create pathways for generations of homegrown physicians.  Simpson University is honored to stand alongside so many dedicated partners in advancing this vital work for the future of Northern California.”

Dr. Paul Dhanuka is quoted as saying “Establishing a School of Medical Sciences in our northern rural area will achieve far more than just helping to solve the physician shortage crisis.  It will serve as an inspiration for our next generation and will transform our region into a destination for the nation.  Our work is to heal and to teach others how to heal.  I invite everyone to join us in this endeavor with faith, bold ambition, and unwavering resolve.”

The Northern California counties will be supporting and cheering this all-star team on!

References:

·  U.S. Average (approximately 41 students per 100,000): Derived from AAMC's 2024 Key Findings and Definitions (covering 2023–2024 data), which reports a national median of ~41 MD/DO students per 100,000 across states. This aligns with total enrollment trends into 2025.

·  California (approximately 21–23 students per 100,000): University of California Office of the President (UCOP) Annual Report: Update on California’s Physician Workforce (2024 edition, based on 2023–2024 academic year). CA ranks 43rd among 46 states with medical schools, with 8,500–9,000 total MD/DO enrollees yielding the low per-capita ratio. Cross-verified by Healthforce Center at UCSF's Physician Workforce and Medical Education in California report (2023 update).

- AAMC Report on Residents (2024 Edition): This annual report analyzes GME Track® data linked to the American Medical Association (AMA) Physician Professional Data, covering individuals who completed ACGME-accredited residency programs from 2014–2023. It explicitly states: "More than half (58.6%) of the individuals who completed residency training from 2014 through 2023 are practicing in the state where they did their residency training." (Table C4). The report highlights residency state as the dominant factor in retention, outperforming other predictors like medical school location (national retention ~38%) or demographic variables. It includes breakdowns by state, specialty, and demographics (e.g., women retain at 61.5% vs. men at 56.2%).