Seeing Language Differences as An Opportunity, Not a Barrier - Dr. Pilar Ortega, Founding President of the National Association of Medical Spanish

Why is it that Hispanics make up 20% of the U.S. population, but only 6% of the physician workforce? Well, Dr. Pilar Ortega, founding president of the National Association of Medical Spanish and co-founder of the Medical Organization for Latino Advancement, is working towards closing that gap. As an immigrant herself, she and her family have experienced trying to navigate a medical system that wasn’t designed for them. Now as an emergency physician and clinical associate professor with dual appointments at the University of Illinois Chicago Departments of Emergency Medicine and Medical Education, she’s tackling those issues head-on. She will also have the opportunity to address these concerns in her new role asVice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Wearing her academic hat, Dr. Ortega utilizes her bi-cultural background to create resources and credentials for Spanish-speaking providers, including two books published by our parent company, Elsevier: Spanish and the Medical Interview: A Textbook for Clinically Relevant Medical Spanish and Spanish and the Medical Interview: Clinical Cases and Exam Review. Don’t miss this enlightening episode of Raise the Line as Dr. Ortega shares her thoughts with host Shiv Gaglani on why language should be seen as a professional skill, the importance of language re-education and the discrimination both Latino providers and patients face.

Mentioned in this episode: https://www.namspanish.org/

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