Alumni Play Key Role to Support Mosaic Gala
Advance Promotion by Alums, Attendance at Event Help to Spotlight Scholarship Program
Touro University California alumni played a key role in the 10th Annual Mosaic Gala on Aug. 27, helping with pre-Gala promotion and support.
The Gala also drew several TUC alumni back to campus, to include a pair of prior Mosaic Scholars.
Dr. Teekz Yenpasook is a graduate of the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Class of 2022 as well as a 2018 graduate of the Master of Science in Medical Health Sciences program. Dr. Luz Hernandez is a graduate of both the Master of Science in Nursing (Class of 2017) and the Doctor of Nursing Practice (Class of 2018) programs within the School of Nursing.
Both Hernandez and Yenpasook reflected on the significance of the Mosaic Scholarship as they worked toward their Master’s and Doctoral degrees.
Significance of Scholarships
“The Mosaic Scholarship was an opportunity for me to not only alleviate the burden of medical debt but also gave me that peace of mind that there is a community that is out there – a community that’s my community – that is out there that will help underrepresented students achieve their goals, achieve their dreams, of becoming a healthcare provider,” Yenpasook said. “For students to get scholarships from donors, it means the world to us, and it meant the world to me, and now as a board-certified dermatologist, my goal, too, is to give back as well.”
Yenpasook serves with Dermatology Center of the East Bay, with offices in Oakland and Layfayette.
“I went back to school in January 2016 to conform to California’s added requirements of an advanced degree for family nurse practitioners,” Hernandez said. “The scholarship program allowed me to upgrade my education without going heavily into debt.”
Hernandez serves as a Doctor of Nursing Practice, Family Nurse Practitioner, at La Clinica in Vallejo.
Alumni from the University’s founding class through current times returned to campus to support the Gala and the student scholarships. Among them was Dr. John Yeung, a member of the Founding DO Class of 2001.
Yeung had not been on campus since he graduated from TUC. And as a member of the Founding Class, he also never attended classes at the Vallejo campus.
He and his classmates attended the first two years of medical school with Touro at a small site in San Francisco. He and his peers moved on to two years of rotations as the TUC campus opened on Mare Island.
Yeung took a tour of the campus prior to the Gala. He later spoke with Kadish, who is also a cardiologist, during the Gala’s hosted reception, sharing memories of the early days of TUC and finding crossover connections with Touro’s leader from their years in the profession.
“I had a great time,” Yeung said.
Yeung served for years as a cardiologist with Kaiser Permanente in the San Joaquin Valley and currently serves as an on-call cardiologist with St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Stockton.
Hernandez, with La Clinica, offered a message to sponsors and donors.
“Your generosity does much to support access to quality healthcare for persons not eligible for federal assistance in the Medicaid/Medicare programs, and who would otherwise have no place to go for help other than overcrowded emergency rooms,” she said. “Your help is essential to support these programs.”