Reel Urban News Special Report
By Michael G. Reel
The lobby of the W. Montague Cobb Medical Education Building at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science was the perfect setting for the celebration of National Latino Physician Day.
“It’s our second annual event, it was started about five years ago when we got together and decided we needed to raise awareness that Latinos, although making up the majority of California, are in the U.S., only 6% of all physicians,” said Dr. Margarita Loeza, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Admissions, College of Medicine.
Dr. Loeza underscored the broader disparity. “Latino women are only 2.4% of U.S. physicians.”
Representation Heals
“Representation Heals” was the theme of the second annual observance, which invited students, staff, and guests to take part in discussions over traditional Latino fare. Six round tables, draped in gold and surrounded by white chairs, filled the lobby, giving attendees a perfect view of the evening’s panels and moderators.
The program opened with a powerful presentation by Dr. José Torres Ruiz, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, on the shortage of Latino physicians. “This is significant considering how the demographics are changing in California and in America,” said Dr. Ruiz. “So you see that 19% of the population here in California is 19% Hispanics, and only 6% of the physicians are Hispanics—there is a gap, there is a disparity, and as we move into the next 20 years, the Numberstographers say that 2050 Latinos in California would be 44% of the population.”
Looking ahead, he warned of consequences if the gap persists. “If we continue having this lack of physicians from Hispanic origin, that will deepen the problem because this is associated with health outcomes and it is well known that when a patient is treated by somebody who looks like him or her, the response is better.”
The Afro Latino Medical Student Panel
The Afro Latino Medical Student Panel featured two first-year CDU medical students and a second-year student serving as moderator.
“I felt really, really blessed just to host the panel and being the moderator for the panelist,” said Saimon Acevedo Ortiz, a native New Yorker. “Just being able to share my experiences, my culture, as being an Afro Latino and a future physician, it felt great.”
According to CDU, its College of Medicine is one of only four MD-granting programs in the nation at a Historically Black institution. The College attracts students from across the country and around the world.
“I wasn’t expecting to come all the way over here—most of the schools I applied to were in the South or on the East Coast,” said Angie Molieri, a first-year student from Miami. “Everything about California and Los Angeles was a surprise to me. In Miami, my presence is a little more normal especially since there are more Afro-Latinos there, and also, if people see my last name they see that it’s a French Haitian last name, there’s more Haitians there.”
Molieri added that a recent question about her legacy caught her off guard. “To have someone ask about what I feel my legacy will be is definitely not something that I expected, but it is something that I do hold with great pride—I just try to do the best that I can every single day and hope that takes me far.”
Another first-year student, Jordan Alvira of San Bernardino, spoke passionately about confidence and representation. “Believe in yourself, there’s power in representation,” he said. “Being Afro-Latino, it’s few and far between, especially on the West Coast. But, you know, what I’m learning every day is that different cultures are everywhere and there are a lot of people that are happy and loving and willing to embrace you.”
Moderator Ortiz tied the students’ experiences together. “My biggest hope is that being African American and also Latino, our cultures could come together—being able to share the cultures, representation goes a long way,” he said. “Hopefully we’re giving them inspiration—they see us and know we’re here and they could also be physicians in the future.”
The Latin X Resident Physician Panel
The evening concluded with the Latin X Resident Physician Panel, where residents shared moving accounts from their medical journeys.
One Family Medicine Resident recalled going years without healthcare and witnessing the mistreatment of patients in overcrowded public clinics—experiences that inspired her to pursue medicine.
Dr. Gilberto Luna Bojalil, a General Psychiatry Resident and son of a Mexican diplomat, reflected on the challenges of constant relocation. “Now I’ll go online and study with someone in another part of the world.”
Dr. Nancy Rodriguez, a second-year Family Medicine Resident, spoke candidly about the fear her patients face amid ongoing ICE raids. She described having to call undocumented patients to ensure they receive care while remaining safe at home.
The discussion was moderated by Dr. Arthur Gomez, Senior Associate Dean of Medical Education.
Mentorship and Family Support
In an interview with Reel Urban News, Dr. Rodriguez emphasized the role of family in her success. “To be honest with you, I cannot say that I would have made it this far without that family support,” she said.
Rodriguez, who was born in the original Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital, draws motivation from her parents’ sacrifices. “It became important for me to also pursue higher education because I saw the sacrifices my parents made to leave their home country, to provide the opportunity for their children here.”
She credits her family’s encouragement for keeping her focused even in difficult times. “They’ve been 100% my biggest cheerleaders and when I struggle, they’re like, no, you can do it, don’t give up… We’ll figure it out, we’ll make it happen somehow.”
A longtime advocate for mentorship, Rodriguez has worked with Dr. Loeza for over 20 years. “Dr. Loesa is somebody that I’ve known for 20 plus years,” she said. “When I was an undergrad, she was one of my mentors and then we ended up working together at Venice Family Clinic.”
A Movement Takes Shape
Wearing her white coat over the National Latino Physician Day T-shirt she helped design, Dr. Loeza recounted the day’s origins. “Some friends of mine, Dr. Michael Galvez, a plastic surgeon, and Dr. Caesar Padilla, who’s an obstetrics anesthesiologist, came up with the idea, we all started networking and meeting and we came up with the mission, and the slogans,” she explained.
After trading her stethoscope for a pencil, Dr. Loeza turned her creativity toward advocacy. “I started drawing art consisting of little art icons for the t-shirts and then we would sell the t-shirts and use the money we raised for scholarships for Latino medical students. We supported the National Hispanic Health Foundation. We wore T-shirts and took pictures of ourselves in these T-shirts and soon hospitals and clinics posted our T-Shirt photos on social media—next thing I know, we had created a movement.”
Soon, that movement began influencing medical school applicants. “I started noticing kids applying to Charles Drew, quoting the numbers that appeared on our T-Shirts… Did you know there’s only 6% Latino physicians in the U.S.?”
Dr. Loeza also shared a personal story that shaped her commitment to inclusion. “My nephew is Afro Latino, my sister is Mexican and his dad is black. I helped raise a little Afro Latino kid and I saw him struggle with his identity growing up,” she said.
“At Charles Drew, we have Afro Latino students in every class and I was very interested in watching them interact and see if they were picking a side or how they were expressing their culture—then one day they made a video: we need more Afro Latinos in Medicina. I was like, you know what? We’re going to put them on the panel. I want to hear their story.”
Looking Ahead
As the College of Medicine celebrated National Latino Physician Day for a second consecutive year, Dean Prothrow-Stith shared why this observance is important, but also critical to the future of medicine and health care.
“The evening’s event celebrating National Latino Physician Day was so significant,” said Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith, Dean of the College of Medicine. “It really means a lot to our medical students and to our residents, but it also validates the work that we’re doing. And what we heard from how the residents and medical students are responding to patients and this issue of cultural competency and being able to truly communicate with patients—that’s what CDU is about and I’m truly inspired, and I think our work is validated.”
