Rx for Diversity: Fostering Hispanic and Latino Doctors in Medicine
- Tristen Griffith
- Sep 29, 2023
- 4 min read
Happy Hispanic Heritage Month!
Every year from September 15th to October 15, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month. This month celebrates the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. Hispanic and Latinos represent the largest and second fastest growing minority group in the US (Office of Minority Health, 2023). This post will look at increasing Hispanic and Latino Physicians as a means of addressing health disparities in Hispanic and Latino populations and increasing health equity.
Health Disparities Faced by the Hispanic/Latino Community
According to the CDC The leading causes of death in the Hispanic/Latino Community as of 2021 are :
Covid-19
Heart Disease
Cancer
Two of the three leading causes of death in this community are preventable However, Hispanic and Latino communities are less likely to utilize health care services. There are a number of contributing factors to this including : lack of health insurance, low income, employment type, and documentation status. One of the most notable barriers to access to quality care is the language barrier. According to the Brookings Institution nearly 1/3 of Hispanic people are not fluent in English and this affects their desire to seek care, health literacy and their ability to receive quality care.
It is unacceptable that in a country WITH OVER 42 MILLION Spanish speakers that fluency in English is such a strong determinant for access to care. Increasing the number of Hispanic and Latino medical professionals in the US should be a top priority.
So Where Are All The Doctors?
The answer like everything is complicated; but that's why we discuss so let's dive into it. Only 5.8% of practicing physicians are Hispanic/Latino and less than half of those physicians (36.7%) practice primary care. But the story of these low numbers begins with an application...
Above you can see the statistics surrounding the 2018-2019 academic year. During this application cycle with data provided by the American Association of Medical Colleges. Hispanic/Latino students make up less than ten percent of applicants, accepted students and graduates. Meanwhile the same data shows that the non-white hispanic students half of the applicant and accepted students and made up more than half of the graduating class that year.
Fences, Fences Everywhere...
Any one will tell you that becoming a physician is no small feat. It takes years of preparation; pre-med course work, extracurriculars, research, networking with professors, hours and hours of studying and standardized testing and that's just scratching the surface! This application process is inherently bias against racial and ethnic minorities and people from low income backgrounds. This is a known and well discussed fact.
"The percentage of medical students from families in the highest quintile of household income has not dropped below 48% since the 1980s, and the percentage of students from the lowest income quintile has never risen above 5.5%." -Briana Christophers MD, Mollie C Marr PhD, and Tricia Rae Pendergrast
Hispanic and Latino students are more likely to be first generation students and are also more likely to come from low income households. In their paper "Medical Admissions Policies Disadvantage Low Income Applicants" , published in the Permanente Journal, Dr. Briana Christophers, Dr. Mollie Marr and Tricia Rae Pendergast discuss how the "standardization of medical education" that has been around for 110 years has played a large role in the disparities we see in the medical field.
Additionally, there was a recent study conducted to examine racial and ethnic differences in barriers faced by students taking the Medical College Admission Test. Researchers confirmed that the lack of Hispanic and Latino Doctors is an upstream issue.
Hispanic students reported "...lower parental educational levels, greater educational and financial barriers, and greater discouragement from pre-health advisers than White students." - Jessica Faiz MD, MSHPM, Utibe R. Essien MD, MPH, Donna L. Washington MD, MPH, and Dan P. Ly, MD, PhD, MPP
Addressing barriers to the application process and increasing the number of Hispanic and Latino Physicians will help to achieve healthy communities and populations. Latino and Hispanic medical students were more than twice as likely to commit to serving in underserved areas than their white counter parts. Additionally, people respond better to medical care and treatment when their doctor shares cultural similarities.
Call to Action
There needs to be a more intentional effort to diversify the medical work force. There is a Doctor Shortage in the US and a Health Equity Crisis we cannot afford to continue to uphold bias application practices. Organizations and Programs such as:
are some examples of programs that are helping to drive equity.
Equity requires intentionality. To increase Hispanic and Latino representation in medicine institutions need to be intentional in taking the time to understand the barriers faced by Hispanic and Latino pre-med students and provide the extra support necessary to bridge the gap.
Sources:
Hispanic/Latino. (2023). Office of Minority Health. https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/hispaniclatino
FastStats. (2023). Health of Hispanic or Latino Population. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/hispanic-health.htm
Christophers, B., Marr, M. C., & Pendergrast, T. R. (2022). Medical School Admission Policies Disadvantage Low-Income Applicants. The Permanente journal, 26(2), 172–176. https://doi.org/10.7812/TPP/21.181
Faiz, J., Essien, U. R., Washington, D. L., & Ly, D. P. (2023). Racial and Ethnic Differences in Barriers Faced by Medical College Admission Test Examinees and Their Association With Medical School Application and Matriculation. JAMA health forum, 4(4), e230498. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamahealthforum.2023.0498
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