With COVID-19 a threat to us all, what should you do if you feel the heat of a fever, find yourself coughing or have trouble breathing? “Llamar a su doctor pronto,” urges the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, or “Call your doctor as soon as you can.” But what if your doctor can’t understand you?
Language and cultural barriers matter — despite what opponents of Proposition 16 say — especially when nearly half of the more than 15,000 Californians killed by the virus are Latino.
As many of us have stayed at home beyond COVID-19’s reach, Latinos have been on the front lines as essential workers, risking their health to ensure our families are fed and cared for. Yet when they feel sick, who can they call — especially if they require a doctor who speaks Spanish?
Medical services have been provided in Spanish every single day in California since 1769, yet after 251 years, our state’s nearly 15 million Latinos are served by just 7,000 Latino physicians, and only 5 percent of non-Latino physicians speak Spanish. This shortage means a Latino with a fever, cough or respiratory problems rarely finds a Spanish-speaking doctor to provide access to COVID-19 testing. But we can change that with Proposition 16, which ends California’s ban on affirmative action so we can fight discrimination and give Latinos a better chance to succeed.
Long before the pandemic, the Latino physician shortage has been a barrier for California’s Latino community and the effects have been devastating. Latinos are more likely to struggle with chronic conditions like diabetes and obesity, have a harder time finding a specialist, and are more likely to be hospitalized for preventable conditions and die once they’re there.
The root of the Latino physician shortage lies in the barriers Latinos face in education and careers in medicine. Overcoming these obstacles will not be easy, but restoring affirmative action programs with Proposition 16 is a critical start.
Affirmative action programs have been proven to level the playing field. For decades, Latino students were relegated to segregated “Mexican schools,” and every few years, just one Latino would graduate from University of California medical schools. But with affirmative action programs, the number of Latino physicians increased dramatically. From 1973 to 1992, Latino graduates from UC medical schools each year leapt from 1 to nearly 100.
Unfortunately, decades of progress were wiped out when a state initiative banned affirmative action. Doors to opportunity slammed shut and the number of Latino UC medical graduates was cut in half.
In a society free of discrimination, California would have 60,000 Latino physicians. However, we are short nearly 53,000 Latino physicians — a gap we must shore up if we’re serious about providing equal access to high-quality healthcare for all Californians. As COVID-19 has painfully shown, this is a matter of life and death.
The likelihood of another pandemic ravaging our country is not a question of if, but when. How we respond is up to us. We can be prepared to keep all Californians safe and healthy, and that starts with Proposition 16, which provides us the tools to increase diversity, fight discrimination, and improve healthcare outcomes.
As a state, we will be best prepared when the check-out clerks, farmworkers, produce-carrying truck drivers, and nursing home assistants can pick up the phone and “llamar a su doctor pronto” when they feel the symptoms of the next pandemic.
We will all be safer in the future for empowering Latinos to pursue higher education, careers in medicine, and, one by one, end the Latino physician shortage.
Gloria Sanchez, M.D., is associate clinical professor, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Family Medicine Faculty, Los Angeles County Harbor–UCLA Medical Center. David E. Hayes-Bautista, Ph.D., is distinguished professor of medicine and director, Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles.
