Andrea Hernandez ended up in a McAllen hospital after a drunken driver hit the car she was in.
鈥淚 basically got amnesia because of how hard I hit my head,鈥 the 22-year-old says.
Like many families in Texas, Hernandez鈥檚 family is from Mexico. Her father speaks only Spanish, so she says it was valuable that her doctor was from Mexico and spoke Spanish, too.
Even with the growth of the Latino population here, the ratio of Latino doctors to Latino patients remains low. Medical schools are working to address this issue of diversity, because a shared identity between a doctor and patient can be especially important when treating a patient in an emergency.
鈥淪ince I couldn't remember what had happened, it was very important for me that my dad was able to tell the doctor what was going on,鈥 Hernandez says.
She says her father was comfortable with the doctor.
鈥淚 know he was very happy that the doctor was able to understand him,鈥 Hernandez says. 鈥淭here was no barrier for my dad to really express what had happened or what my dad expected of my care.鈥
But Hernandez鈥檚 experience is unique. A 2010 study by Dr. Gloria Sanchez found there were 78 Latino doctors for every 100,000 Latinos in Texas 鈥 75 percent less than the rate for non-Hispanic whites.

One reason there aren't many Latino doctors is that young Latinos face some barriers at the beginning, when they apply to medical school, says Rene Salazar, the assistant dean for diversity at Dell Medical School in Austin.
鈥淎s a first-generation college student and as the first in my family to go [into] medicine, not seeing individuals that looked like me 鈥 really got in the way of me thinking that this was a possibility,鈥 he says.
Salazar says when he speaks at events, many Latino students tell him he鈥檚 the first Latino doctor they鈥檝e seen, despite the large Latino population in Texas.
鈥淭hat's just not acceptable to me,鈥 he says, 鈥渆specially when, again, we鈥檙e more than a third of the community.鈥
Latino doctors have cultural experiences that allow them to help their communities differently than non-Latino doctors, Salazar says.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an understanding of the culture and experience that I think can put us in a space to really help our patients be more effective in managing their health,鈥 Salazar says.
Norma Poll-Hunter, senior director of human capital initiatives at the Association of American Medical Colleges, says the life experiences of Latino doctors also benefit people outside the Latino community.
鈥淭he richness of our experience not only helps our communities, our Latino communities, but it also helps our peers who are not Latino understand and increase their cultural competence as well,鈥 she says.
Salazar says there are benefits to a shared identity between doctors and patients that aren鈥檛 just about better care.
鈥淲e have to be careful [not] to jump to the conclusion that Latino doctors take better care of Latino patients,鈥 he says.
This shared identity matters most when it comes to patient satisfaction, he says.
Now recovered, Hernandez is studying to become a doctor at UT Health in Houston. She says the experience between her father and her doctor has solidified her decision to help others.
鈥淚 saw how comfortable my dad was and I saw how that led to better care for me,鈥 she says, 鈥渟o I would like to do that for other Latinos as well.鈥
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