{"id":45496,"date":"2017-05-05T08:31:08","date_gmt":"2017-05-05T12:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=45496"},"modified":"2017-05-04T11:21:30","modified_gmt":"2017-05-04T15:21:30","slug":"medical-student-hopes-to-inspire-more-latina-doctors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2017\/05\/05\/medical-student-hopes-to-inspire-more-latina-doctors\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical student hopes to inspire more Latina doctors"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Astrid Medina, a first-year student at the Boonshoft School of Medicine.<\/p><\/div>\n

The path to medical school wasn\u2019t always straight for Astrid Medina, a first-year student at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine<\/a> from Miami, Florida. But the underrepresented minority scholarship winner was able to make it despite the obstacles, and she wants others to see that they can make it too.<\/p>\n

Medina spent her early childhood in a Los Angeles suburb and was raised by a single mother. She lived in a small house with the rest of her family.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up, I remember we never really went to the doctor,\u201d Medina said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t until later on that I learned we didn\u2019t have insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Southern California is an expensive place to live and her family simply couldn\u2019t afford the coverage. For vaccinations, Medina would go to the local health department. That was essentially the extent of her access to health care.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had an uncle who I adored because I didn\u2019t have a father. He was in pain, and popped pills like Skittles. He went to the doctor to get checked and they couldn\u2019t figure out the pain. He just got more pills and didn\u2019t want to go back,\u201d Medina said. \u201cWhen he was 26, he passed away in the shower. He had a cerebral stroke. Looking back, we didn\u2019t have that access to care. Could he have been saved?\u201d<\/p>\n

Medina is leaning toward specializing in neurology or internal medicine. But no matter what she chooses, she wants to provide care to underserved populations in her career, possibly in Southern California.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I could inspire other Latina women,\u201d Medina said. \u201cThey could see someone who looks like them, who speaks their language. They\u2019d think, \u2018I can do it too.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Winning the underrepresented minority scholarship is helping to make those dreams possible. Without its support, Medina might not be able to attend medical school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel very grateful to have received that scholarship, especially because I\u2019m a mom and children are expensive,\u201d Medina said.<\/p>\n

Her daughter moved with her from Miami, along with her husband and mother. \u201cOur school is aware we need more diverse doctors and supports that we, as a minority, have dreams too,\u201d Medina said.<\/p>\n

Medina, who attended Florida International University as an undergraduate, was also accepted to its medical school. But she chose Wright State because of its supportive faculty and the camaraderie she felt between the students. With the small size of her class, she feels that it\u2019s easy to get to know everyone and to feel welcomed.<\/p>\n

Medina is a member of the Student National Medical Association, the oldest and largest medical student organization dedicated to serving the needs of underserved communities and underrepresented minority students who wish to pursue careers in the field of medicine.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really nice to be a part of a school that recognizes and supports diversity in general,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

For giving opportunities that support students at the Boonshoft School of Medicine, visit\u00a0medicine.wright.edu\/community\/giving-opportunities<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The underrepresented minority scholarship helps make Astrid Medina’s dream of becoming a doctor possible. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":45499,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,2040,725,2149,2016,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-giving","category-home-news-sidebar","category-medical-students","category-medicine","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45496"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45502,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45496\/revisions\/45502"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}