2023-10-13 21:43:16
The number of Latinos in the medical field in the United States. However, this fact is even more evident when it comes to women.
“I remember from a very young age, they never told me that you might be a doctor. Why don’t you try to be a nurse?” recalls Dr. Lourdes Adame, who works for Altamed PACE.
They were invisible rules but with sexist implications.
A pair of friends known as the “Foos in Medicine” are trying to inspire the next generation of Latino doctors. Enrique Chiabra reports.
“They kind of don’t let us dream,” says Dr. Adame.
According to a recent UCLA study, Latinas make up only 2% of doctors in the United States.
“[Hay que] change that system of saying because you are a woman, and you are going to have children, we are not going to invest in you,” says Dr. Seira Santizo Greenwood, co-author of the study. “Because it can be an investment that does not bring us something.”
A woman’s first steps are those that will diagnose her future
“If a little girl is in the primary system and is wanting to be a doctor, the education system needs to take these opportunities because that is where they are becoming empowered,” says Dr. Santizo Greenwood.
But there are young Latinas who are seeking to break those barriers, like Urania Argueta Raya, who remembers the difficulties her mother and grandmother experienced.
“Her doctors did not speak the same language as her, they gave her instructions and she did not know how to read those instructions,” says Argueta Raya, who studies medicine at UCLA.
Others obtain motivation to success in their own home, like Laura Solano. The example of her father is the driving force that keeps her in her goals.
Organizations like Doctor Mentors mentor the next generation of healthcare professionals.
“He is already 65 years old, he still works. He gets up early at 5 in the morning, he never complains.” says Solano.
“When something is difficult, I remember him. “I shouldn’t complain, I have the privilege of being here to study.”
With that effort, she moves a little closer to the goal of soon ending the shortage of Latina doctors.
“There are many peasant workers, including my parents, uncles, [que] They might never take time off from work to go to the doctor,” says Lucía Diaz, a medical student at UCLA.
The Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine offers the opportunity to study medicine, free of charge, to students who are eligible for its program.
Like Dr. Adame, the three students plan to return to their communities to pursue their careers. But, above all, to serve as an example to other girls.
“The three of us are going to dedicate ourselves to making the path easier for the girls who come in the next generation, to have more Latina doctors,” says Argueta Raya.
According to the study, Latinas have more responsibilities at home, which hinders their dream of becoming a doctor. In addition, the lack of financial aid and the lack of mentors also become obstacles.
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