Latino Students in Health Care Win $16,000 in Scholarships From National Hispanic Health Foundation

“Eight health professional students from across the U.S. each won $2,000 scholarships from the National Hispanic Health Foundation (NHHF), a nonprofit group affiliated with the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University.

NHHF will award the $16,000 in scholarships at its third annual Hispanic Health Professional Student Scholarship gala dinner at 7 p.m. Nov. 30 at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel, 1535 Broadway. This year’s scholarship program was expanded from recipients based only in New York to California and Texas.

“We’re thrilled because this is the first year that NHHF will take its program to students across the country,” said Dr. Elena Rios, president and CEO of NHHF. “A consensus exists among health policymakers and experts that there are too few Hispanic health professionals in the U.S. We hope these scholarships will address that need. Those in health care play an invaluable role caring for all members of our communities.”

Health care is increasingly becoming vital to the nation’s fastest-growing ethnic group. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that one in five Americans will be Hispanic by 2030 and one in four by 2050. “As the U.S. population grows, we need more Hispanic health care professionals, especially in these key states where Hispanics number almost one of three residents,” Rios said.

NHHF is the 501(c)3 arm of the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA), a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC, and representing Hispanic physicians across the U.S. NHHF is affiliated with NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, which is a center of academic excellence for public service, including health policy and management, leadership and health services research.

Ellen Schall, dean of the Wagner Graduate School, joins Rios in noting the critical need for talent in this area. “The NHHF scholarship provides needed funds and acknowledges emerging leaders – and that acknowledgement of these future leaders is equally important as the funding,” said Schall.

This year’s Hispanic Health Professional Student Scholarships were awarded to outstanding students who have demonstrated academic excellence, leadership and a commitment to the Hispanic community, the nation’s largest minority group. The scholarship targets students who have made a commitment to improving the health of Hispanic communities. Their disciplines are in five areas: medicine, nursing, dentistry, public health, and health policy and management.

This year, the winners were selected by a prestigious panel of health care officials from the Wagner Graduate School, the National Association of Hispanic Nurses, the Latino Caucus of the American Public Health Association, the Hispanic Dental Association, and the NHMA. Since the scholarship program was launched in 2004, NHHF has awarded 18 scholarships totaling $31,000. Also this year, NHHF established an endowment program with $5,000 in seed money.

“We at NHHF are honored to help these remarkable students in achieving their goals. We are committed to their professional success, just as they have shown their dedication to academic excellence and serving their communities,” Rios said. “By doing our part today, we are nurturing future health professionals and role models who will be tomorrow’s leaders.”

The winners of the 2006 Hispanic Health Professional Student Scholarships are:

· Luis E. Salazar, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
· Magdia de Jesus, Einstein School of Medicine, Yeshiva University, NY.
· Lorena Consuelo Guerrero, School of Nursing, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX.
· Marcy Lopez, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, NY.
· Juan Ibarra, School of Public Health, University of California at Berkeley.
· Liliana Diaz, Wagner School of Public Service, NYU.
· Tina Comissiong, Wagner School of Public Service, NYU.
· Julie Longoria, Baylor College of Dentistry, Baylor University, Dallas, TX.

Luis E. Salazar, 25, is a second-year medical student at USC. “I know that as a bilingual and bicultural Mexican-American physician, I will be helping to serve the currently underserved Latino population through my own clinical endeavors,” Salazar said. “But I am realistic in that I know the need for health care services the Latino population demands is far greater than I can supply. Thus, I feel it is imperative to continue to build and improve the pipeline to ensure that other qualified Latinos enter the physician workforce.”

Magdia de Jesus, 28, of Yeshiva University has a passion for science teaching and helping his community. He also has been involved at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Hispanic Center of Excellence, mentoring undergraduate students. “My long-term goal is to become a professor in microbiology and immunology and have my own research laboratory,” de Jesus said.

Lorena Consuelo Guerrero, 38, is pursuing a PhD in nursing and is working as a member of the clinical faculty at the University of Texas Health Science Center. Guerrero has worked with the homeless and as a family nurse practitioner for CentroMed, a federally funded health clinic in San Antonio, since 2003. Guerrero, a Chilean immigrant, also speaks Spanish, which is helpful to her patients. She sees herself as a role model for others. “We don’t have that many Hispanics in nursing. We’re really underrepresented. If our patient’s native tongue is Spanish, they prefer to have a native-speaking health professional. It also helps if the doctor or nurse has a cultural awareness of Hispanics.”

Marcy Lopez, 27, of Columbia University hopes to maintain good health among underserved and minority communities in her career as a public health professional. “I will work in translating these research findings into new and innovative prevention methods, as well as culturally appropriate and effective interventions that aim to improve the health of historically disadvantaged and underserved populations,” Lopez said.

Juan Ibarra, 33, of UC Berkeley has seen firsthand the need for Latino health professions. After coming to the U.S. from Mexico in the early 1970s, his family became part of the migrant farm working community in the San Joaquin Valley, where Ibarra saw the toll that grueling labor took on workers. His mother encouraged him to seek higher education. He graduated from the Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in human biology and a master’s in public health. Ibarra also received a master’s in social work from San Diego State University. “My greatest desire in the public health sector is to translate public health issues and theories into culturally sensitive interventions and policies for medically underserved/marginalized populations,” he said.

Liliana Diaz, 23, of NYU knows firsthand that many immigrants cannot afford health care. Her parents are Mexican immigrants whose health is poor because of malnutrition suffered during childhood. “This motivated me to pursue higher education with the hope that some day, I could make a difference,” Diaz said. “My goal is to be professionally, academically and politically capable to make a difference for people who like myself at one point did not know or understand that we do not have to suffer in silence due to inappropriate diagnosis, healthcare and treatment.”

Tina Comissiong, 24, of NYU is an avid volunteer and fundraiser. “My personal goal is to help reshape and strengthen health care in my territory, the U.S. Virgin Islands, by improving access to health care services and uniting existing health care services to provide local residents with a continuum of care thereby eliminating the need to travel off island to receive medical care,” Comissiong said. “I am interested in policy development that is focused on eliminating health disparities and in coordinating outreach efforts targeted toward the underserved populations in the U.S. Virgin Islands.”

Julie Longoria, 24, is finishing her third year at Baylor College of Dentistry in Dallas. “I am not sure where I will set up my practice, but I am sure that I will be working with underprivileged children as they are what I have found makes me most happy. Being from the Dallas area and attending dental school here, I am fully aware that over 51 million school hours are lost to dental problems each year,” Longoria said. “Even more alarming are the 70,000 children living at or below poverty level with significant dental problems. I plan to somehow begin to make a difference in access to care for these children.”"

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