Background Although Hispanics make up just 6% of physicians, they are one in four U.S. children and youth and will grow to be one in three. Therefore, barriers to their underrepresentation in medicine and other STEM fields must be removed for population equity. Main Idea Four challenges must be addressed for Hispanics to reach the goal of workforce equity in health care: 1) the limited pool of Hispanic youth prepared for STEM careers, 2) limited pipeline programs and ineffective pathways in educational systems for health careers, 3) inadequate professional development for Hispanic physicians, and 4) a lack of focus in our politics on the size of the Hispanic population and its potential to advance health care. We must address these four challenges by 1) increasing the K-12 pool of Hispanic students with expectations and preparation to enter medicine, 2) increasing effective pipeline programs and developing more accessible community educational pathways into health careers, 3) enhancing mentorship for professional and leadership development of Hispanics in medicine, from medical students to faculty and community physicians, and 4) change the politics around Hispanic achievement from diversity to one based on maximizing the potential of our nation’s human capital. Conclusion Addressing these four challenges to increasing Hispanics in health care will require Hispanic health providers to partner with other Hispanic groups in education, public policy, and community advocacy to cover the breadth of changes needed to achieve and maintain population equity in the health professions for Hispanics.
Fernando Mendoza (Tue,) studied this question.