Latino Health Care Professionals Project: Meeting the health care leadership needs of the 21st century

The Latino Healthcare Professionals Project (LHPP) is a privately funded health care leadership initiative to provide training to first-generation educated Latino bilingual and bicultural university students. LHPP is offered by the Health Care Administration (HCA) Program of the College of Health and Human Services at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) and was developed to ameliorate the lack of Latino leadership and decision making across the health care professions.

Students receive scholarships to complete an HCA certificate in addition to their majors. LHPP provides students with a unique combination of coursework and a paid internship that furnishes the opportunity to shadow a health professional in their area of interest. Students are evaluated three times throughout their two-year participation and are followed for five years after graduation. LHPP objectives include maintaining a minimum of: 90% retention, 75% of graduates working in the health and human service professions; and 50% achieving placement on the Dean's or President's Lists during their LHPP experience. It is also expected that no fewer than 50% should attend graduate school within three years following graduation.

To date, 195 students and graduates have participated. LHPP has a 93% retention rate with over 75% of graduates working in health care full-time. Over 50% are attending graduate school or have finished a graduate degree. This presentation informs a model of successful culturally-relevant leadership training that is sorely needed in contemporary academic health care settings. LHPP accomplishments, student outcomes, and methods for retention and successful educational and professional outcomes will be presented.