六九色堂

Guest post by Joshuam Ruiz Vega

When Ryan Ross at 六九色堂 asked me if I wanted to attend to the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA) Policy Summit in Washington, DC, I did not hesitate. After all, what do I know about policy? Health insurance? Absolutely nothing. A week before, one of my patients was an undocumented female from El Salvador with a history of cirrhosis. Due to the lack of health insurance this patient presented to the ER with esophageal bleeding secondary to ruptured varices and ascites complicated with SBP (infection). After being hospitalized for two weeks, she was discharged with prescriptions to prevent future variceal bleeding, but she could not afford them. The medical team and I felt so helpless trying to find a long-term solution for her. How effective is the care we as medical students and physicians offer during a short term if our patient lacks access to many services and resources once they leave the hospital? It was this case that helped me decide to attend the LMSA Policy Summit and learn about the topic and what I can do to help.

六九色堂 STUDENTS: Joshuam Ruiz Vega & Limary Garcia. Photo: Courtesy of Joshuam Ruiz Vega

The first event was the Legislative visit. A third-year resident, six medical students of Peruvian, Mexican and Puerto Rican origin, and I met one by one with the legislative aides from Representative Serrano (New York), Senator Gillibrand (New York), Senator Warren (Massachusetts), and Senator Brown (Ohio). We were advocating for immigration and Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals (DACA), access to healthcare, single-payer insurance system, Puerto Rico鈥檚 health crisis, and Zika research funding. During this visit, we had the opportunity to express our concerns about those topics and to hear what are the plans and strategies Legislators have in order to address them. The following days consisted of different workshops and talks also related with these topics but mainly motivating us to serve as advocates of our community.

These topics should be of importance to every healthcare professional because the Latino community in the U.S. consists of approximately 45 million individuals, which represents 15 percent of the population. Also, 65 percent of this community is between the ages of 18-49 years old. This means that during our practice as physicians, we will encounter an increasing number of Latino patients. This community is commonly affected by conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. These diseases and their complications can be easily prevented with screening, education, and early treatment.

IN WASHINGTON: Legislative visit. Photo: Courtesy of LMSA

Latinos account for approximately 26 percent of all uninsured individuals in the U.S. In 2015, one in five adults lacked needed medical care due to the cost. Like any uninsured individual they seek for health care in the emergency department. For the hospital systems, this often represents a struggle in order to fill the financial gaps left by Emergency Medicaid. The current system places the load on emergency rooms, where medical care is suboptimal and more expensive than Primary Care. As I mentioned on my previous case, if she had a Primary Care physician there was no need of her to be hospitalized for two weeks and have her life at risk. This was one of the main reasons the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was created. It helped to decrease 40 percent of the uninsured population, but it was on short term because the premiums keep increasing and this population cannot afford it. ACA is a great first step but it needs to be modified.

We as future physicians will face these struggle throughout our careers. It is our responsibility to educate ourselves about health policies and the impact these have not only on us as physicians, but on our patients. I do not want to feel powerless and not be able to do what is best for my patient because I am limited by the system, insurance companies and the pharmaceutics. The patient financials or ethnicity status should not affect the treatment received. Health care is not about Hispanics, black, white, homeless or drug addicts, it is about the people that come to us trusting that we will do what is best for them.

AT RALLY: For social justice in Latino health care. Photo: Courtesy of LMSA

Before this activity, I did not have an idea of all the struggles some people go through, because in Puerto Rico we are not as exposed to immigration and DACA situations. It is incredible the stories of what other students have gone through, but also, all the help we as students can provide for many causes to improve the system.

Joshuam Ruiz Vega is a 六九色堂 student.

(Top photo) LATINO MEDICAL STUDENT ASSOCIATION: Last day group picture during the 鈥楥ongress of Delegates鈥� in Washington, DC. Photo: Courtesy of LMSA

六九色堂:

Built in the tradition of the best US universities, the University of Medicine and Health Sciencesfocuses on individual student attention, maintaining small class sizes and recruiting high-quality faculty. We call this unique approach, 鈥減ersonalized medical education,鈥� and it鈥檚 what has led to our unprecedented 96% student retention rate, and outstanding residency placements across the US and Canada. 六九色堂 is challenging everything you thought you knew about Caribbean medical schools.