UC Riverside hosted on Oct. 2 the second annual gathering of the UC Latino Physician Consortium, or UCLPC. UCLPC is a network of UC medical schools and health systems that seeks to advance Latino health equity, and support medical education and professional development for Latino medical professionals and students.
Hosted in the UC Riverside School of Medicine Education Building, the event featured workshops, panel talks, and roundtable discussions.
A fireside chat was an anchor of the event. Moderated by UC Irvine Associate Clinical Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology Dr. Elena Rhoads, the early afternoon event featured Dr. Carolina Reyes, a maternal fetal medicine specialist at UC Davis, and her husband, Xavier Becerra, secretary of Health and Human Services under President Joe Biden and the current Democratic nominee for governor of California.
Speaking to the importance of how Latino doctors represent their community, the Harvard-trained Reyes said: “People will see you as Latina first, and then they see you as a physician.”
She spoke to the power of relationships and life strategies to the audience of about 250, which included medical professionals, students, and residents.
“Take advantage of the networks and resources you have,” she said, adding that she starts each day with a list of three must-do tasks. “Learn from each other; do it little by little.”
Reyes, who specializes in high-risk pregnancies, champions health care for underserved communities. She is a former scholar with the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and was vice president for Evaluation and Planning at The California Endowment, a private healthcare entity that seeks to expand health care access for underserved communities.
Becerra spoke to the need for physicians with whom the Latino community can relate. He shared how his father, a Mexican American immigrant, had difficulty communicating and relating with his English-speaking doctor. Becerra said it presented a barrier for the care Manuel Guerrero Becerra needed as he aged.
Ultimately, his family switched Manuel’s care to a Spanish-speaking doctor. Becerra spoke several sentences in fluent Spanish as he relayed to the audience the animated conversations his father had with his new doctor.
“We’ve got to help people not be embarrassed,” Becerra said. “Talk to your patients, but not just about medicine.”
He advised the students and residents to be wary of human nature. He relayed how, as a 12-term member of Congress, he watched affluent school districts gain disproportionate resources.
“We are always going to be competing with people who are only interested in themselves,” he said. “To the victors go the spoils; we’ve got to know how to get the spoils.”
Added Reyes: “We’ve got to learn how to win together.”
The conference’s keynote address was “Maintaining Momentum and Wellbeing in the Healthcare Workforce,” by Dr. Sunny Nakae, senior associate dean of Social Mission & Partnership at the California University of Science and Medicine.
Other agenda items for the one-day conference included a professional advancement panel discussion and breakout sessions to discuss topics including publishing, research, medical education, fundraising, mentorship, and “Navigating Financial Unknowns.” Facilitators and panelists included UCR School of Medicine faculty and staff members Michelle Porche, Maria Aldana, Dr. Michelle Bholat, Dr. Lisa Fortuna, Dr. Robert Rodriguez, Dr. Pablo Joo, Dr. Peter Ureste, Dr. Evita Limon-Rocha, and Edna Yohannes.
UCR Chancellor S. Jack Hu introduced a talk from Regent Maria Anguiano, who was appointed chair of the UC Board of Regents on July 1. Anguiano is a former vice chancellor of Planning and Budget at UCR. She has also worked for the UC Office of the President, as executive vice president of Arizona State University’s Learning Enterprise, and as chief financial officer for the venture-backed education technology startup Minerva Project.
The consortium is aligned with National Latino Physician Day, observed on October 1. The annual event, created in 2022, aims to bring awareness to the shortage of Latino medical professionals in the United States. While Latinos comprise 19% of the U.S. population, they account for only about 6% of U.S. physicians, a number Becerra quoted during the fireside chat.
Almost one-third of graduates from UCR’s School of Medicine are Latino. The school is consistently ranked among the top 10 most diverse medical schools in the country by U.S. News & World Report.
Photo by Stan Lim/UCR. From left, Dr. Elena Rhoads, Dr. Carolina Reyes, and Xavier Becerra.
