Carolina Odette Ochoa's Accomplishments

Wide reaching, nurses significantly outnumbered physicians as providers of health care often having utmost vast reach remoteness to underserved communities. Having personally lived in one of the underserved communities in my hometown Western Africa before moving to the United States of America and my life calling to be a nurse from a young age with the deep desire to make a difference. I plan to contribute and continue to contribute immensely to the underserved communities by delivering quality health care to remote regions around the world. I do volunteer service at several clinics in the Atlanta area with many well-known Emory physicians that care for homeless and underserved populations, these volunteer experiences provide me with opportunities and fulfillment to develop added headship skill and experience to meet my daily patients, needs.

However, I have exceeded in medical experience training that is competitive compared to my peers. I have served as a Patient Experience & Diversity Specialist and an Emergency Department Volunteer at Cape Fear Valley Hospital; I am the current Undergraduate Clinic Coordinator for the Campbell University Community Care Clinic; and more recently, a Natural Disaster Support Volunteer for Hurricane Matthew victims in Lumberton, NC. All of these positions have required me to expose myself and engage with patients that originate from a wide variety of culture, life experiences, and differences in personality. Early exposure and repetition of certain practices in the medical field has allowed me to achieve qualifications that allow me to assist in Guatemala and the varied health conditions that I will

Her father, Juan Fernandez, was a farm worker, miner, union activist, and a state assemblyman (Ruiz & Sanchez, 2005; Dolores Huerta Foundation, 2014). Her mother, Alicia Chavez, was a big inspiration for Huerta and one of the primary reasons she became a feminist (Dolores Huerta Foundation, 2014). Alicia Chavez owned a restaurant and a 70-room hotel where she welcomed low-wage workers and their families for affordable prices. Huerta and her brother worked at the restaurant and Huerta noticed that the poor farm workers who stayed there were working very long hours for very little pay; she got motivated to improve their lives (Mendoza, 2004; Ruiz & Sanchez, 2005). Her mother was also an active member in the community as she was involved in numerous civic organizations and church activities (Garcia, 2008; Dolores Huerta Foundation, 2014). Huerta’s mother encouraged diversity and made culture a big part of her upbringing (Garcia, 2008; Dolores Huerta Foundation, 2014) Huerta was raised in Stockton, California; an agricultural community made up of diverse working families (Garcia, 2008; Dolores Huerta Foundation, 2014). Through participation in various school clubs and girl scouts, Huerta reflected her mother’s activism with her involvement at Stockton High School (Dolores Huerta Foundation, 2014). After high school, Huerta continued her education and earned a provisional teaching credential from University of Pacific’s Delta College in Stockton (Garcia, 2008; Dolores Huerta Foundation, 2014). Teaching did not last very long for Huerta because she was unable to continuously see kids (mostly children of farm workers) come to school hungry and without basic necessities, such as shoes and proper clothing (Mendoza, 2004; Garcia, 2008; Dolores Huerta Foundation, 2014). This experience sparked the activist in her and she began working towards correcting economic injustice

As many of you know, this October the Hispanic Scholarship Fund will be announcing this year’s inductee to their noteworthy Alumni Hall of Fame. Founded over 70 years ago, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund has done exceedingly well to provide the bright, young Latino scholars of our nation with an opportunity to seek higher education through scholarships and various programs. At the Alumni Hall of Fame Gala we will celebrate three scholarship recipients as well as a single inductee. While each individual being recognized at the Gala has proven to be extraordinary, there is one in particular you should look out for. However, having had such a massive impact in places all over the world, you may have already guessed who this dazzling woman is:

Volunteering at Texas Health Presbyterian Plano is my way of giving back to the community while developing critical social skills, and gaining important medical field exposure along the way. It’s an opportunity to change a person’s life, including my own. I volunteered at two hospitals last summer and I’m well acquainted with what volunteering entails and would more than love to do it again. Through this hospital volunteer program, I hope to discover my own passions and talents, while also developing skills that I will utilize throughout my entire high school and college experience.

Dr. Sonia Rosado has served as an educator, a mentor, and friend to the Muir College staff for the last 10 years - something that certainly must be draining. And yet, she does it with the belief that each staff and every day is just as important as the last. Each year serves a different community of incoming students and also works as a continuation of the last.

Dr. Catalina Esperanza Garcia grew up in El Segundo Barrio, one of El Paso’s poorest and oldest neighborhoods. Catalina was taught and believed that education and hard work could make anything possible. She was the oldest of 6 kids. She was a natural leader and caretaker. Her 1st doctor as a child was a woman. Her doctor inspired her to become one of the 1st Mexican-Americans to graduate from UT southwestern medical center to become a doctor. One of the biggest help was a German-Jewish immigrant from the

Listening to Dr. Navarro talk about all the difficult bumps throughout her life such as the struggle to self-acceptance and pursuing her dreams made me think about my parents’ sacrifices when they immigrated to the US. After I was born, it became clear that they could not provide the constant care and attention a newborn child needed while forging a new life in a foreign country. So I was sent back to China to be taken care of by my grandparents at two years old while my mother worked two jobs to

As a recipient of this scholarship, I would like to contribute to the mission of the NHSC by providing an environment where patients feel that they are welcomed, a priority, and receiving high quality healthcare. This is important because the large patient demands found in clinics in underserved areas create an environment where patients receive less face-to-face time with their doctors, provided they get seen at all. Because I have the work ethic and compassion to make a difference in underserved areas, I believe that I would be a helpful addition to any clinic. Bringing caring healthcare professionals into communities will allow more patients to receive quality care as well as impact these areas by allowing everyone to live healthier, more

To this day, this culture of service continues and is evident to me by the administration, student body, and faculty’s preventative medicine initiatives. Initiatives such as, providing medical help by encouraging students to participate in student-run free health clinics as well as providing uncompensated medical and dental care to its local community. In addition to providing help, MMC focuses on educating the community with the use of health programs, the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, and Project C.O.P.E designed to help HIV/AIDS patients. Other initiatives that I desire to be a part of involve the use of research endeavors to help not only local communities, but also global communities such as Dr. Villalta’s research into diseases found in Latin America. Through its altruistic vision MMC has established a culture of service that has inspired many, as well as myself to accomplish great things not only in the local Nashville community, but also in the

Over the course of the summer I will be working with Dr. Laura Warner. Dr. Warner is the Medical Director of Corporate Mission at Centura Health. The project that I will be assisting with is the health equity dashboards development plans and the development of diversity awareness model for associates. Over the next 12 weeks I am responsible for researching best practice models preformed by other health systems, attending webinars form the American Hospital Association on how to better approach diversity, attend health equity council meetings with Dr. Warner, create PowerPoints, graphs and spreadsheets of the racial and ethnic background on all Centura health hospital boards and help brainstorm ideal for potential ideal learning modules for

My family used to be economically disadvantaged early on in my life, and I can empathize with the economic hardships others face. I additionally became aware of the lack of adequate healthcare that people without financial resources can face when my grandmother once had an allergic reaction to aspirin and was limited in her choice of hospitals because of her lack of insurance. As a physician, I want to take a leading role to provide affordable quality healthcare for impoverished communities as a practitioner and innovator of healthcare

Rodney Bruno was born and raised in Roxbury, Massachusetts. He has always had a passion for community engagement and health disparities. Majoring in Biology and taking courses on the honors curriculum, he has grown an interdisciplinary approach to science. Bruno has been an active student on and off campus. His freshmen year he was chosen by his peers as an ambassador to Glasgow Caledonian University in Glasgow, Scotland. He participated in both the Tufts Winter Enrichment and UMass Medical School’s BaccMD programs. On campus, he has spoken alongside the Chancellor at open house and conducted research as a Ronald E. McNair Scholar. Personally, Bruno has been committed to community work within Boston. He was a health provider on the Family Van,

four years ago, in the hope that my father’s health would improve, I encountered many obstacles that have motivated me to help my community. My family and I have felt the sting of discrimination because of our skin color, culture, and Mexican accent. However, this has only emboldened me to reach for my dreams and aspirations and work towards a higher-level education to help and support those who also face difficult obstacles in order to reach their goals. When I began to volunteer with different organizations and discovered the tremendous need of healthcare, education, food, and hygiene supplies that exists, I learned that one must help their own community for all to succeed and obtain what they deserve. I observed that there is not just crucial need for better health care and nutrition in our state, but a tremendous need for homeless shelters and food banks that can support low-income families. Even though I was not born in this city, Albuquerque has become my community and my home and I have become attached to the people who day by day work exceedingly hard to give the best to their families. Since little, my dream has always consisted of attending college to become a health care provider to help those people who are struggling with health issues, such as my father. I want to motivate other students to believe in their potential and reach their goals despite the economic and social barriers one may face. For me this is the power of a higher-lever education: improve our quality of life and the one of those around

Along with my concentration in Biology and French, my involvement with the Francophone community, as the President of the Francophone Club, will prepare me for the study of medicine and also help me work with the Francophone community. Over the years, I have developed this passion to work with French-speaking individuals. Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine will give me the opportunity to practice medicine within West African and French Canadian communities in Detroit and the surrounding communities. I am committed to improving and addressing the need of this underserved community. Moreover, I have volunteered extensively in my undergraduate years with underserved African-American and Hispanic minorities. I am greatly devoted