October 2024 Page 4
CDU Newsletter CDU Celebrates National Latino Physician Day with Student Panels
CDU observed National Latino Physician Day on Oct . 1 with a special gathering hosted by the College of Medicine ’ s Graduate and Undergraduate Medical Education departments .
The event , which was held in the Cobb Foyer and included a delicious Peruvian catered dinner , featured two robust panel discussions centered around Afro-Latina medical students and Latina residents .
National Latino Physician Day was established on October 1 , 2022 to celebrate Latino and Latina physicians in the United States .
The day brings awareness to the critical shortage of Latino and Latina physicians , who represent only 6 % of the U . S . physician workforce despite 19 % of the U . S . population identifying as Latino .
The Afro-Latino Medical Student panel discussion was moderated by Ky ’ Tavia Stafford- Carreker , a third year student in the UCLA / CDU MD program .
The panelists , all from cohort 1 and cohort 2 of the CDU MD program , were Akira Feliz , Nicolas Hurtado Bautista , Saimon Acevedo Ortiz , Maciel Duverge-Corporan . and
The panel provided space for the students to share their personal journeys and some of the adversities they ’ ve faced , not only in pursuit of their medical degrees but also in navigating healthcare spaces as Afro-Latinas . A theme of identity and rejection was echoed by a few of the students .
Photo by Kevin Camargo
“ It has to do with people accepting that there are black people in Latin America and because of that just innate racism , because of colonization , there ’ s like a rejection of people who are darker skinned ,” said Akira Feliz , MS2 . “ So , if you ’ re brown and you ’ re speaking Spanish to someone who is of a lighter skin tone for example , they don ’ t want to acknowledge that you ’ re speaking to them in Spanish . It ’ s like them kind of not wanting to accept that this brown person can also speak Spanish just like me .”
Dr . Margarita Loeza , Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Admissions and Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at CDU , moderated the Latina Resident Panel .
The panelists were Family Medicine residents Dr . Nancy Rodriguez and Dr . Shirley Mori along with Internal Medicine resident Dr . Cindy Nativi . Both Rodriquez and Nativi are members of the CDU residency program .
The residents testified to their personal journeys to become physicians , some being first generation doctors , and addressed barriers such as sexism in the workplace and the lack of Latina and Latino mentors . continued on page 5 ...