Thanks to the Sierra Health Foundation, seven medical students will receive a new combined degree in medicine and health-care finance and management from the School of Medicine and Graduate School of Management over the next few years. "Through this new six-year program, generously funded by $481,200 from the Sierra Health Foundation, UC Davis can train and educate the kind of physician leaders that will be needed in 21st-century health care," said School of Medicine Dean Gerald Lazarus. The Sierra Health Foundation M.D./M.B.A. Fellows Program will recruit students who are committed to careers in health-care leadership, to providing care to the medically underserved and who wish to remain in Northern California. This program draws on the health care M.B.A. program at the Graduate School of Management and is enriched with a number of educational offerings including population health epidemiology and bioethics. "As health care moves to managed care, the leadership role of physicians has changed," said Len McCandliss, president of Sierra Health Foundation. "Decision making power has moved from the providers of service to the insurers. Doctors must continue to be a strong voice for patients--which means they must understand the changing economics of health care."Students will receive free tuition and fees for the full six years of their education. The School of Medicine will assist with financial help to Sierra Health Foundation Fellows for any additional fees, books and living expenses on a demonstrated-need basis. The Sierra Health Foundation is a nonprofit, independent foundation that supports health and health-related activities in 26 Northern California counties. Headquartered in Sacramento, it is one of the state's larger philanthropic organizations devoted exclusively to health and health care.