$25,000 Surprise Eases Medical Student’s Path

Attending her first day of classes at USC’s medical school on Monday, Cristina Villarreal learned that a Los Angeles family has provided a $25,000 annual scholarship because they were inspired by her determination to become a doctor serving the poor.

That’s enough money to cover her remaining school expenses and assist two other needy students.

Villarreal is the farm laborers’ daughter from Orosi, Calif., who was the subject of an Aug. 5 article in The Times. The story described her long struggle to get into medical school so she could fulfill her dream of becoming a country doctor who cares for low-income farm workers in the San Joaquin Valley.

The state’s public medical schools have been losing minority medical students since banning affirmative action. But Villarreal, who spent her summer breaks from MIT helping her family pick grapes, found that solid grades and a chemical engineering degree weren’t enough to get into any of the University of California’s five medical schools. She did, however, win admission to USC, which, as a private institution, has more leeway in its admissions decisions.

Since the story appeared, Villarreal has been inundated with offers and opportunities. Several Los Angeles residents offered to open their homes so she would have a rent-free place to stay during school. Others mailed her checks. A film producer wants to make a TV movie about her life story.

But her biggest thrill, she said, was learning that all her remaining school expenses would be covered by the charitable foundation. The family offering the money wishes to remain anonymous.

“Words cannot express how grateful I am,” Villarreal said. When she determined the scholarship wasn’t a joke, she burst into tears. “I’m really thankful for people who called in and tried to find me a place to live. It’s a little overwhelming.”

Although USC’s Keck School of Medicine has been highly successful at fund-raising, generating money for medical student scholarships has proven more difficult than gathering funds for new buildings or programs. Many donors figure that medical students will be able to quickly repay student loans after they get established in the high-paying profession.

But the cost of medical education--$50,000 a year at USC--makes it difficult for students who have piled up enormous debts to accept lower-paying positions in rural and inner-city clinics.

Working with USC officials, the family foundation designated a $25,000 annual scholarship to be awarded to a student who “expressed a desire to return to underserved communities in the state of California after completing his or her medical education.”

On Monday, the medical school’s financial aid committee agreed to award the $25,000 to Villarreal. Because the committee had already given her a $33,000 annual scholarship to cover tuition, it redistributed some of the new scholarship money to help two other needy students, said Erin Quinn, associate dean of admissions.

Villarreal, 25, was inspired by her own family physician, a folksy country doctor in Dinuba, near where she grew up, who did not charge her father when he couldn’t afford to pay. His waiting room is always packed with patients in a rural community designated by the federal government as critically short of doctors.

When Dr. Gary Shannon learned of Villarreal’s acceptance into USC medical school, he relayed this message through her father: “Tell her to hurry up; I’m ready to retire.”

Villarreal’s story has also caught the attention of Moctesuma Esparza, a Latino activist and a producer of the films “Selena” and “The Milagro Bean Field War.” Esparza contacted Villarreal earlier this month to ask permission to shop around the idea of turning her life story into a movie for cable television.

Villarreal’s life “has all the qualities of a heart-rending story that touches you,” Esparza said. Luz Gonzalez, a Cal State Fresno professor and mentor, gave Villarreal some unsolicited advice about how to negotiate a movie deal.

“We’ve got to get Antonio Banderas to play your father,” she told Villarreal. “If he doesn’t do it, don’t sign off.”