WesternU partners with Kern Medical, CSUB and Bakersfield College to nurture and train physicians in Kern County 

Western University of Health Sciences celebrated a strategic partnership with Kern Medical, California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB), and Bakersfield College that addresses a critical shortage of health care providers in Kern County by developing home-grown physicians who will train and practice there.  

Kern Medical hosted a summit Nov. 3, 2025, in Bakersfield to announce these strategic partnerships. Kern Medical Director of Medical Education and Designated Institutional Official Amir Berjis, MD, MACM, FACS, FCCP, said Kern Medical serves as the county’s designated safety net hospital, providing care for the most vulnerable and underserved patients while operating one of the busiest trauma centers in California.  

Since the pandemic, Kern Medical has maintained an over 30% retention rate of graduates who choose to stay in the community and practice their chosen field of medicine, Berjis said. Their collaboration with WesternU has already born fruit, as witnessed by the WesternU osteopathic medical students in attendance who are completing clinical clerkships at Kern Medical.  

“We are creating a well-structured pathway that allows local students in our community to enter the field of medicine and stay and practice here once their medical training is complete,” Berjis said. “We firmly believe that students from our local communities should have the opportunity to complete their undergraduate degrees in the Central Valley, matriculate through medical school and complete core clerkships at home, match into and graduate from medical training programs at Kern Medical, and stay and practice right here in Kern County.”   

“We’re making history. This is a legacy,” said WesternU President Robin Farias-Eisner, MD, PhD, MBA. “We will become a hub. We are currently at the intersection, in my opinion, of academic excellence and the finest high-quality health care system enterprise in the state. This is a very unique partnership.”  

CSUB Provost Deborah Thien, PhD, said Kern County’s unique spirit of collaboration, innovation and bold action that has led us to this new era for health care for this community. Everyone here knows the statistics about health care in Kern County – the prevalence of chronic diseases, the public health challenges, and the deficit of health care providers, Thien said. And behind these statistics are people – caregivers and people in need of care.  

This community is grateful for the health care professionals who moved to Kern County to provide support, but we know if you are not from this community, you are less likely to stay and put down roots, Thien said. That is why CSUB is dedicated to growing its own providers through programs such as the Public Health bachelor’s degree and the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree.  

“An astonishing 90% of our graduates remain right here in the hospitals, health centers, and doctors’ offices of Kern County,” Thien said. “So this brings us to perhaps the most ambitious expression of CSUB’s promise to match our curriculum to community needs, the Pre-Medical Pathway Program. For our students, our Roadrunners, who dream of becoming physicians, what a turning point for our university and the entire region.”  

Thien then quoted CSUB President Vernon B. Harper Jr., PhD. “The people of Kern County take great pride in determining our own destiny. We do not sit helpless waiting to be rescued by leaders in distant places. We are risk takers and innovators, possessed of the knowledge that together we can accomplish anything.”  

Bakersfield College Interim President Dr. Stacy Pfluger said the mission of Bakersfield College is simple.  

“We want to open doors and create opportunities to help students reach their goals. Every day we see students who have dreams of becoming physicians, researchers and health care professionals,” Pfluger said. “They have the passion and the ability, and what they need are clear pathways forward, and that is exactly what this partnership is delivering.”  

The Pre-Medical Pathway program connects Bakersfield College graduates to CSUB, where they will complete a bachelor’s degree, and then go on to WesternU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP), creating a direct route for students who aspire to become physicians.  

The Research Laboratory Technology (RTEC) Pathway builds on Bakersfield College’s bachelor’s degree in RTEC, providing a clear connection to WesternU’s Master of Science in Medical Sciences program. Each pathway includes five reserved seats per year for qualified Bakersfield College students, “signaling to them their dreams are not out of reach. They are right here within reach, and right here in Bakersfield,” Pfluger said. “These efforts are part of a larger collective response to the shortage of medical professionals in Kern County. By aligning education with workforce needs, we are ensuring that the next generation of health care leaders begin their journeys here and stay rooted in the communities they serve.”  

Kern Medical and WesternU also unveiled plans for a new Community Wellness Center in Bakersfield. This center will expand access to care, offer state-of-the-art training space for students and residents, and serve as a hub for community education and wellness programs.