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>> PRIME-LC is a program in medical education for the Latino community. It was a program
that was created uniquely for California. There's a large Latino population that experiences
health disparities, and this program was created to foster future leaders within the medical
field to tackle these health disparities in various different ways.
>> It's a novel program here at University of California, Irvine that started off here,
but has spread out to other schools throughout the UC system.
>> It's this program that has allowed for students with the same desires and passions
to come together, create this network and heal healthcare. Being a PRIME-LC pioneer
really has a lot of weight, and it's super important for me because you carry a lot of
responsibility for the classes below you to really forge the way.
>> It's been fun to be in the first class and learn how to tweak it and make it better.
But then also to set an example for other PRIME-ers that are dedicated to the same ideals.
>> Basically as the first cohort, everyone's looking at you. Everyone's saying, "What are
you going to do?" And you sort of set the lead for everyone else and you really want
to represent your class well, in particular the PRIME-LC program well.
>> In the future, as a doctor, I plan on becoming an emergency medicine physician and working
with underserved communities, specifically Latinos. That's where my heart is.
>> I love medicine. I don't see myself not practicing medicine, but I also understand
the utility of public policy and public health. So whatever route I go, it'll basically be
where the community needs me.
>> I remember walking into the anatomy room with my cohorts, with my classmates and touching
a body for the very first time. The strong smell of formaldehyde, the coldness. And then
flash forward to third year, where I was in the operating room with a surgeon and for
the first time actually helping the surgeon and touching the patient once he was opened.
Being shocked by how warm he was and the blood that flowed through him, and the life that
flowed through this patient. I think that was my most memorable moment: that I went
from a cold cadaver to now this live patient that we were helping.
>> I've made lifelong friends that are not only like-minded, but that are also very talented.
>> It's a network that I've cherished, definitely. I know I can call up any one of them, whether
it be next month or 10 years from now, and I can rely on them for their help or expertise.
They're so diverse. They've gone off into different fields: policy, public health, master's
in business administration. I realize that they all have their strengths where I have
weaknesses; and that we can rely on each other and we're family.
>> Overall, I'm very excited. It is a great responsibility, but I'm up for the challenge.