2023-09-27 23:08:22
Latinos face more barriers when it comes to pursuing a career in medicine, that is the testimony of dozens of Hispanic doctors behind “National Latino Doctor Day”, an effort to raise awareness regarding the disadvantages in terms of access to education and resources for Hispanic youth.
“When I work here as an anesthesiologist, I speak Spanish almost every day. So when I talk to someone in Spanish, pretend that they are not just a patient, I imagine my sister, my cousin, my aunt,” said Cesar Padilla, doctor.
It’s something that comes from his childhood.
“I went to the doctor with my grandmother or my mother, and sometimes I had to translate,” Padilla said.
And over the years, he walked the corridors of a hospital once more, this time, as a doctor.
“So that’s something that fills your heart because it makes you a little sad, and maybe that motivated me to be a doctor,” Padilla said.
He now practices obstetric anesthesiology at Stanford, but what hasn’t changed much since his childhood is the low percentage of Hispanic doctors. That is why for the second year in a row, he is promoting “National Latino Doctor Day” which is celebrated on October 1st.
“It is to increase the numbers of Latino doctors, which is only 6% in the United States,” said Padilla.
The disparity is especially alarming for counties like Santa Clara where only 4% of doctors are Hispanic, but a quarter of the population is Latino.
Dr. Padilla explained that this puts the health of patients at risk, since speaking the same language and understanding the same culture contribute to medical care.
“Studies have shown that patients suffer fewer complications,” Padilla said.
But complications are those that many Latino applicants suffer when applying to medical school. Dr. Padilla confesses that like him, young Hispanics face financial barriers or lack of resources.
“I was born and raised in a neighborhood, you might say, and there were no resources for schools, there were many gangs around me. Many people who sold drugs,” Padilla said.
This is how in the tenth grade, he abandoned his studies following failing several classes.
But her inspiration came to life when she remembered the sacrifice of her immigrant parents.
“If they sacrificed so much, what can I do, right. If they don’t know the language and they came to another country, I know the language, then no,” Padilla asserted.
Thus, following 15 years and two university scholarships at Harvard, the Union City native wants to inspire future generations of Latino doctors, but he also has a message for universities and hospitals.
“Looking at the applications and saying, ‘you know what, if a person applying speaks the language of Spanish, then you have to give them more points,’ because right now, unfortunately, the language is not valued,” Padilla said.
Since the creation of the “National Latino Doctor Day” movement last year, doctors say they have also raised thousands of dollars for “Mi Mentor,” a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting low-income students interested in medicine. .
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