Claremont’s Keck Graduate Institute has awarded L.A. Care Scholarship Awards for the Master of Science in Community Medicine program to two team members from Tracing Health, a COVID-19 response initiative of the Public Health Institute in partnership with Kaiser Permanente and the Oregon Public Health Institute.

Data Analyst Karina Quiroz and Community Care Specialist Vadim Gaynaliy will be L.A. Care Scholars in the inaugural fall 2021 cohort of MSCM students. In addition, Community Outreach Specialist Peyton Nguyen and Contact Tracer Rachael Nevin were accepted for early admission for the 2022-2023 academic year.

“Through Tracing Health, our staff has already been providing critical health information as trusted messengers within their communities,” said Dr. Marta Induni, Tracing Health’s Program Director. “Thanks to KGI, they are now on the path to advanced degrees and long-term public health careers. That’s always been a part of Tracing Health’s philosophy because we know that we can foster better health outcomes when our workforce is as diverse as the communities we serve.”

KGI’s MSMC program, part of their innovative new school of medicine, received inaugural funding from L.A. Care Health Plan, the largest publicly operated health plan in the country.

The MSCM program is the first master’s degree within KGI’s school of medicine, and prepares students as skilled community medicine practitioners to work in the safety net community clinics, federally qualified health centers, public health departments, healthcare systems, and nonprofit and non-governmental organizations. On the cutting edge of community medicine, the program prepares leaders and practitioners who work in underserved and underrepresented communities to decrease demand for medical care services by improving health and preventing disease and illness.