A Minority within a Minority: My Path to Medical School as a DACA Recipient

García AJ

Some of my earliest memories include dinnertime conversations with my family that emphasized the importance of not sharing our undocumented immigration status with anyone outside our home. Oftentimes, I was unsure of what it really meant to be undocumented, but I knew that it was something I was not allowed to freely share.

At age nine, I immigrated to California with my older sister and mom to reunite with my father who had been working in the US for a year. At a young age, I found myself in a new country with a new culture and language. After one month from our arrival to Santa Ana, California, my parents enrolled me in fourth grade. I vividly remember sitting in the classroom unable to understand a single word that was said because I did not understand the language. It is all somewhat blurry today, but I do recall feeling lost and alone in the classroom because I was unable to express myself. Fast forward to a year later and I became the first one in my family to speak English. I soon became my monolingual Spanish-speaking parents’ interpreter and advocate during their physicians’ appointments, a role I still fulfill today. At times, I was unsure of how to decipher complex medical words, but I knew it was my duty to advocate and ensure that my parents’ concerns were heard. This is not an unfamiliar feeling to a lot of immigrant children - oftentimes, we have to advocate for our family members from a very young age. When I was younger, I was unaware of the immense impact that these early experiences with health care would have on me. Today, I look back and realize that they have helped me gain first-hand experience on how social determinants of health affect the access to adequate, comprehensive health care.

Throughout high school, I always worked towards attending college and applying to medical school afterward. I was unaware of the complications that I would have as an undocumented student. When I graduated high school, DACA had not been implemented, therefore, I knew that it would be challenging to finance higher education. DACA stands for “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,” which is an “administrative relief that protects eligible immigrants who came to the United States when they were children from deportation. DACA gives undocumented immigrants: 1) protection from deportation, and 2) a work permit. The program requires that the DACA status and work permit be renewed every two years” (1). Despite the obstacles that I encountered, I was accepted into UCLA with a full-ride scholarship. Four years later, I became the first one in my family to graduate from college.

I faced a new challenge when I was applying to medical school. I had to figure out how to finance my medical education. DACA recipients are ineligible to receive federal loans; therefore we solely rely on private loans and scholarships. After working hard during my four gap years between graduating from UCLA and applying to medical school, I finally was accepted into medical school - truly a dream come true. I’d be lying if I said that navigating medical school as a DACA recipient is easy, but I want to highlight the lessons I have learned along my journey to medicine.

Because of my early experiences growing up in a bilingual, bicultural household, I am able to connect with my Latinx patient on a personal level. I reassure them that I can understand when they feel afraid of going to the hospital because of their undocumented immigration status or when they feel overwhelmed navigating an unfamiliar healthcare system.

Despite the challenges that my immigration status has created for me, the resiliency that I have built, the lessons that I have learned, and the determination that I have fostered are invaluable. I know that regardless of the obstacle I face, I am able to problem-solve and use alternative resources to reach my goals. This is what I have had to do throughout my education thus far. I hope to inspire other pre-medical students who have DACA to apply to medical school and follow their dreams. I am here to show you that it is possible to accomplish your goals regardless of your family’s income, race, immigration status, language barriers, or cultural differences. The challenges and unique circumstances you encounter as a DACA recipient will only help you relate to your patients as a physician.

For all of these reasons, I am a minority within a minority - an intersectionality of being an Argentine immigrant, first-generation college graduate and now medical student, advocate, and DACA recipient.

About the Author:

García AJ’s drive to help increase the cultural and linguistic competency motivated her to start the Medical Spanish elective at her medical school. She has participated in epistemic injustice research which examines how a community of student-faculty interactions supports diverse students in medical school. She has presented her research at both regional and national conferences and has been invited as a guest speaker at over 11 events. She is committed to continue working on increasing the diversity in medicine and help provide culturally and linguistically competent healthcare to the most vulnerable populations, specially to monolingual Spanish-speaking patients.

About the Work:

This personal narrative describes my journey as an Argentine immigrant to a first-generation college graduate and now a third-year medical student with DACA immigrating status. I share my early memories immigrating to Santa Ana, California from Rosario, Argentina to now being a third-year medical student. I highlight the challenges I encountered during my education career thus far, but most importantly I share the immense lessons I have also learned and how I apply them during my medical training.

Sources:

1). “What Is Daca?” UNDOCUMENTED STUDENT PROGRAM, 20 Oct. 2022, https://undocu.berkeley.edu/legal-support-overview/what-is-daca/.