Addressing a crisis in Latino health
The under-representation of Latino health care professionals is directly linked to continued disparities in health issues that disproportionately confront our community, such as malnutrition, asthma, diabetes, obesity, and vascular diseases. While almost one third of the California population is Latino, Latinos comprise only 4% of the state’s physicians. The discrepancy between patient and healthcare provider populations is most conspicuous in California, but the disturbing trend is prevalent nationwide.
Our Mission
We at the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA) (LMSA) - Stanford Chapter are committed to rectifying this dilemma. LMSA is a network of students, alumni, and health professionals whose mission is to promote the development of Latino students through education, volunteerism, and professional networking opportunities that foster diversity, higher education, and the improved health of the Latino community. To this end, LMSA promotes:
- The recruitment, retention, and academic advancement of future Latino healthcare professionals.
- Improving the delivery of health care services to Latinos and medically underserved populations.
- Developing a network of Latino students and healthcare professionals through which mentorship, consultation, and exchange of ideas about the path to medical careers can take place.
- Fostering Latino students' research, community service, and academic interests that will lead to the improvement of healthcare for underserved communities.
Our Vision
With the tremendous need to recruit, prepare, and train Latino students in medicine and other health professions, LMSA is leading the way to increase the number of Latino students gaining acceptance into medical schools across the country. LMSA has been a strong voice in advocating programs, services, and equity for Latino students committed to obtaining higher education. The Latino community is not only the nation's fastest-growing population, but also its largest minority group. By recruiting, admitting, and supporting future Latino physicians, LMSA will have a significant impact on how this population utilizes our health care system.
Our Work
LMSA has organized an effective and systematic outreach to Latino students at every level of education through mentorship programs, participation in medical school admissions committees, community service programs, educational outreach fairs, and conferences. These events foster the discussion and analysis of curriculum planning, leadership skills development, medical school application and interview process, Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) preparation, extracurricular and community involvement, and Latino health issues. The most prominent projects include:
- LMSA Regional Conference: Our annual regional conference enables the different chapters to convene and assemble experts in a wide range of disciplines from around the country to conduct seminars on Latino issues for high school, undergraduate, and medical students, medical school administrators, and a variety of healthcare professionals. Our next conference will be hosted by the Stanford Chapter on April 7-8, 2006.
- Mentorship Program: The mentorship program pairs undergraduate students with a current LMSA medical student, who will mentor them in all aspects of their academic career, from scholarships and research to medical school applications. LMSA mentors are examples of Latino students who have overcome the obstacles of poor quality pre-college education, inaccurate academic guidance and lack of peer mentoring and support. Our mentors provide pre-health students with a glimpse of the demands and rewards of medical school. LMSA mentees are provided with opportunities to shadow medical students and participate in community health fairs and outreach projects organized by medical students.
- Community Health Screenings and Education: LMSA provides health screening and educational services to underserved Latino communities throughout the year. We screen patients for many of the health problems that disproportionately afflict our community, such as diabetes and high cholesterol. In addition, we educate patients on the nature of their diseases, how to address their ailments, and refer them to free clinics in the area where their conditions may be treated and monitored. Many of the people we see are uninsured, and for them, these screenings provide their only opportunity to realize their conditions and discover ways to treat and manage their illnesses.
Our Invitation
We invite you to join us in our mission to expand the educational pipeline for disadvantaged students from high school to post secondary education and beyond which will ultimately improve the quality of healthcare for our community. Please contact us to learn more about LMSA and our efforts to improve healthcare for the medically underserved.
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