Is Touro University California (TUC) just that place over on Mare Island, or will your next checkup be in the hands of one of the university’s many alumni? Did you receive a consultation on your medications from one of TUC’s doctors of pharmacy? Maybe your child has been impacted by a teacher who received a credential or master’s degree at TUC, or your community has been significantly improved thanks to the efforts of the school’s alumni in public health. Enriched by the mosaic of those who have walked through its halls, TUC is a school that’s deeply rooted in history and its longstanding commitment of service to others.
TUC began on August 18, 1997 in San Francisco as the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, where it first shared classes with a podiatry school. In 1999, the osteopathic medical school moved to the spacious and historic Mare Island. Home to the first permanent Navy installation on the West Coast, Mare Island had served as the area’s center for Naval interests and shipbuilding from 1854 until the base closed in 1996. TUC restored and repurposed the base’s old buildings into classrooms and facilities that have been bustling with students since.
Today, the fearless spirit of these historic buildings is alive with a renewed sense of heritage. Home to Mare Island Base Hospital, a National Historic Landmark that was constructed in 1899 on the foundation of an even older Navy hospital, Mare Island has a long history of providing medical care to military service people. The base also housed one of the Navy’s premier prosthetic design facilities, which is now a TUC research facility.
With more than 1,500 students, the university is organized into three colleges: the College of Osteopathic Medicine, the College of Pharmacy, and the College of Education and Health Sciences. The TUC learning experience is student-centered, enriched by research and scholarship, and driven to prepare professionals for rewarding lives in service to others both locally and around the globe.
Concerned for the health of local communities, TUC students collectively volunteer more than 22,000 hours of work each year. Students from all three colleges volunteer at the Student-Run Free Clinic, located at the Norman C. King Community Center, to provide services such as health screenings, osteopathic manipulative treatment, and diabetes prevention to low-income families in Vallejo. The clinic was founded in 2010 with a grant from Target, and its presence continues to help keep the center active.
“We wanted to increase access to healthcare, especially in South Vallejo, which was identified as an area in need,” said Student-Run Free Clinic co-founder Joy Dugan, MPH, PA-C.
This summer, TUC will be celebrating 20 years in education. On September 17th, TUC’s 20th Anniversary Gala will be held in the Farragut Inn Ballroom, the former Officer’s Club of Mare Island. Guests from the community and university will come to honor TUC’s tradition of bringing education and healthcare together to produce medical care providers, pharmacists, public health practitioners, and educators who are eager and equipped to impact the lives of those in need. Information on ticket sales will soon be available at tu.edu.
In celebrating its 20 years of serving, leading, and teaching, TUC is focused on its future for the next 20 to come.
