Estefania Lopez, a UACOM – Phoenix student in the class of 2023, is passionate about increasing resources for medical Spanish on campus and throughout the curriculum. Along with fellow classmates Alexandria Daggett and Abigail Solorio, she developed “Almuerzo con Amigos,” a student-led initiative to get other students comfortable with conversational Spanish and open the door to conversation in the clinical setting. Through emails with Dr. Briney and Dr. Kim, the curriculum these individuals developed was able to help the development of more formalized teaching opportunities in the Cafecitos program.
I spoke with Alexandria, Estefania, and Abigail to get their perspectives on their experiences with medical Spanish, developing new programs to improve availability for medical students at UACOM – Phoenix, and their futures as culturally competent physicians.
Alexandria:
I learned Spanish as I grew up through school and ended up as a Hispanic Studies major in college. I have a strong social justice background, and I worked hard to further the cause of social justice. Since high school, I fell in love with Spanish and I wanted to work with the community who needed help. I am from Minnesota, and I came to Phoenix to help work with the Hispanic community. Seeking opportunities for medical Spanish and bringing it to our peers was a natural to me. Working from this basis, I wanted to help develop the Almuerzos con Amigos and Cafecitos programs with the help of the school administration.
I am exploring the field of pediatrics, and I think I want to be able to shape someone’s health as they grow up. If I can work with families and help prevent the bad behaviors from developing, we can affect the outcomes of these individuals. Working and improving the health of a child also can help improve the family too, and I want to be there for our community as a whole.
Estefania:
I acted as an interpreter for my mother and family. Sometimes people think they are doing the right thing by simplifying what is being said, but it can do a disservice to a patient.
Growing up I always had asthma and a peanut allergy and had my fair share of emergency visits. At home, I always spoke Spanish. When I was in the emergency room, it was different as a patient. There was a time where my mother was trying to explain I had a peanut allergy, but the translator at the time dismissed my mother’s concern as just having a rash. I could not advocate for myself. I want to be a provider who can provide care in English and Spanish without hesitation. I want to have the strength of language under my belt as a physician to work with my community. As a medical student, I knew I wanted to make a difference and broaden the medical Spanish program, which is something I wanted to do since I started in the Pathways program. That is part of why I became an OSR (Office of Student Representatives), as well. I am able to go to conferences and learn from other schools and see the large resources at the disposal of these other programs. My dream is to make the UACOM – Phoenix medical Spanish program shine bright in my time here.
Abigail:
If you put a little bit of effort into learning how to introduce yourself, I think it makes a world of difference. You can connect and establish a trust. Even a few words in Spanish allow you to engage in a discussion to provide them with some more culturally-sensitive care.
I am bilingual and grew up in a Spanish household in a family of immigrants. To become a physician for my community and people is incredibly important for me. By taking on leadership positions in LMSA (Latino Medical Students Association) and ODI (Office of Diversity and Inclusion), I have been able to fuse those two roles to become more conscious of our communities. The goal is not only to reach out to these communities but also to advocate and educate these communities. For me, working with the LMSA chapter is helping to advance this goal and improve our relationship with these communities. Now more than ever we need to be conscious and educate ourselves on how to connect with the communities we are set to lead in.
I am a recipient of the UACOM – Phoenix Primary Care Scholars scholarship, and I want to dedicate myself to that community. As a Phoenix native, this is like a dream come true. The stars aligned, and now I must work hard to light the way. I am passionate about preventive care and have a potential interest in Internal medicine, at this point. The best part about my future in primary care is that I get to empower my patients to take control of their health and care for diverse populations with various medical conditions but, above all, recognize that each patient has a story to tell that is unique. As a Hispanic female who speaks Spanish fluently, who came from a socioeconomically disadvantaged background, I feel that I will be able to bring my personal story and life experience to my profession and connect with my patients.
Mohammad Khan is a fourth-year medical student in The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, Class of 2021. He graduated from Arizona State University in 2014 with two bachelor's degrees in biochemistry and biology. He then worked as a teacher and completed a Master's in biomedical diagnostics in 2017. For fun, Mohammad (who also goes by Mokha) likes to practice at the archery range, work on calligraphy, game, and fountain pen writing, and read science fiction novels. He is interested in medicine with a focus on educating patients.