Marshall B. Ketchum University is Southern California's newest healthcare education institution. An outgrowth and expansion of the educational offerings of the 109-year-old Southern California College of Optometry, the University will provide a diversity of healthcare training opportunities in an environment focused on interprofessional education. The first program to be added is the School of Physician Assistant Studies, which is anticipated to open in 2014 and is currently accepting student applications.
Marshall B. Ketchum University is named after the founder of the Southern California College of Optometry, who was both a pharmacist and a medical doctor and a passionate advocate for Optometry. His innovative approach to interprofessional healthcare education captures the spirit of OC’s newest healthcare University. "Our new University name reflects Dr. Ketchum's great legacy and expands our position to respond to the nation’s healthcare needs," said University Founding President Kevin L. Alexander, O.D., Ph.D.
"Marshall B. Ketchum University will continue the great healthcare heritage established by the Southern California College of Optometry," noted Dr. Alexander.
About Marshall B. Ketchum University
Established in 1904, the Marshall B. Ketchum University is a private, non-profit, educational institution. The University confers a four-year, professional degree, Doctor of Optometry (O.D.); a Master of Science in Vision Science (M.S.) degree; and a Master of Medical Sciences (MMS) degree. The University is also adding the School of Physician Assistant Studies as the first step in the development of an interprofessional healthcare campus. Marshall B. Ketchum University provides a diversity of healthcare training opportunities in an environment fully focused on medical professionalism, combining advanced clinical training with innovative teaching methods.
The University's superior 109-year-old optometric clinical education program provides patient care experiences in community optometric clinics; exposure to the delivery of optometric care in multi-disciplinary settings; and experiences in practices serving a wide variety of ethnic and socio-economic patient groups. Marshall B. Ketchum University owns and operates two premier eye and vision care centers – the Eye Care Center located on its campus in Fullerton, CA, and the Optometric Center of Los Angeles located on Broadway at Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Marshall B. Ketchum University Facts:
Location: 2575 Yorba Linda Blvd., Fullerton, CA 92831-1699
Size of Campus: Seven (7) Acres
Founding: 1904
Number of Current Students in SCCO: 398
Number of Current Students in the Master of Science in Vision Science Degree Program: 7
Number of Current Optometric Residents at SCCO: 40
Number of Alumni of SCCO: 6,693
First Class of New School of Physician Assistant Studies: Fall 2014
Number of Students to Enroll in Physician Assistant Studies Program: 24
Number of University Faculty, Administrators and Staff: 170
Accreditations:
Southern California College of Optometry: Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (ACOE) of the American Optometric Association
School of Physician Assistant Studies: The University has applied for accreditation pending approval from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), and provisional accreditation from the Accreditation Review Commission on the Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). The School of Physician Assistant Studies at Marshall B. Ketchum University anticipates matriculating its first class in August 2014, pending WASC approval and accreditation-provisional from ARC-PA. Accreditation-Provisional is an accreditation status for a new PA program that has not yet enrolled students, but at the time of its initial accreditation review, has demonstrated its preparedness to initiate a program in accordance with the accreditation Standards.
Contact:
Debra J. Marks, M.A., Director of Communications
714.449.7463 • dmarks@scco.edu