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Previously
Published

Publications by our LMSA members.

Please enjoy these pieces from our LMSA community!

The winners for this category are:
1st: "From Margins to Medicine” by William Mundo
2nd: “Cardiothoracic Surgery Training Program Director Awareness of Available Visiting Medical Student Clerkships for the Underrepresented in Medicine.” by Angelica Martin
3rd: "Climate Change will increase vector change" by Liliana Inez Mas

Congratulations, everyone!

Angelica Martin, MS3
University of California, Davis School of Medicine

Angelica C. Martin, MPH is a third-year medical student at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine and part of the highly competitive Transforming Education and Community Health for Medical Students (TEACH-MS) program. Angelica’s research includes medical education research, surgical education research, public health interventions research, and health policy research.
 
Her experience in the field of health policy and health advocacy before medical school is vast. She was a Legislative Staff Assistant for Supervisor Gloria Molina of Los Angeles County and rose among the ranks to become Executive Director of the 7,000-member statewide health advocacy non-profit: California Physicians Alliance. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Universal Community Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center serving the South Los Angeles community.
 
Angelica was born and raised in Echo Park, is an alumna of Wellesley College (’12) and earned her MPH from Boston University School of Public Health (’14). She is a Bill and Melinda Gates Scholar, Hispanic Scholarship Fund Scholar, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Looking to the Future Scholarship Recipient, and a Kaiser Permanente Oliver Goldsmith, MD Scholar.

Liliana Inés Maz, Undergraduate

Portland State University

Liliana Maz is a junior at Portland State University, double majoring in Biology and Public Health. After moving to Oregon from Colombia as a child, she witnessed her mother experience hardship when trying to access healthcare services. She later learned about the health disparities experienced by Latino communities, which inspired her strong interest in health equity.

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Liliana is currently an active volunteer for several organizations promoting health in low-income and underserved communities and serves on multiple councils promoting diversity and equity. She has been appointed a McNair and an NIH BUILD EXITO scholar and is working as a research assistant on projects focused on health equity, improving patient care, and increasing retention of students in STEM. She aspires to apply to medical school after graduation and become a physician who works to improve the health of Latino communities.

Dulce Silva, MD
 

I am a proud Belizean, my mother was born in Nayarit, Mexico and father in Belize. I am now a permanent resident in the U.S. since 2019 living in Reno, Nevada. I am an International Medical Graduate having studied medicine at Rafael Landivar University in Guatemala City. I am currently studying to take the Step 1 USMLE in March 2022 and Step 2CK in August 2022. I am aspiring to become a Radio-Oncologist and would like to do residency and permanently work in the West, where I can be close to my mother and siblings as well as being able to serve a large latino population. I’m the first University graduate in my nuclear family and being able to practice medicine in Guatemala and Belize has brought me a great sense of pride, gratitude and satisfaction. However, now living in the United States I would like to be able to make an impact in the lives of others in particular the Latino community. I believe in equity over equality and I strive to be just and fair in all aspects of my life. Living a healthy lifestyle rooted in integrity plays an important role in my life and I encourage others to do so as well especially the patients I come in contact with daily.

Karina Diaz, MS4
University of Washington School of Medicine

Dr. Diaz is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area in California. She attended the University of California in Davis as an undergraduate student graduating with high honors in Microbiology. While applying to MD/PhD (MSTP) programs, she spent a year doing research at the NIH Rocky Mountain Labs in Montana. Today Dr. Diaz is a 4th year medical student at the University of Washington in Seattle applying into pediatrics residency. Her research thesis focused on the interaction between non-enveloped viruses and the human innate immune system, receiving her PhD in 2020. Dr. Diaz is also the National president of the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA) from 2021-2022. As the president of LMSA and a future practicing physician she continues to focus on mentorship and improvement of medical care for the Latino population across the nation.

Melinda Kassandra Lopez, MS1

University of Minnesota Medical School - Duluth

Hola familia! My name is Melinda Kassandra Lopez. I am 21-years-old, a first-generation first-year medical student, and a registered nurse. My goal in life has been to serve my community and my state through healthcare. Starting nursing school when I was 16, at Minnesota West Community and Technical College, was the best decision I’ve made. I successfully became a licensed practical nurse during my junior year of high school, and a registered nurse during my senior year. This allowed me to go directly into the healthcare workforce and begin the rest of my career. Serving in the role of a registered nurse, I’ve been able to be everything I’ve wanted - an educator, teacher, nurturer, counselor - because that was what my patients needed from me. Healthcare is a beautiful life of devotion, sacrifice, and commitment. My spirit is the most free when I am caring for others and I feel the most human when I am sharing my life with my patients. I am currently studying at the University of Minnesota Medical School - Duluth, where I am taking my experiences as a nurse and using that to become the physician of my dreams. Si, se puede!

William Mundo, MS4

University of Colorado School of Medicine

My name is William Mundo, but my preferred name is Will. My pronouns are He/Him/His. I am a son of two immigrants from Acapulco, Mexico. As a result, I am also a first-generation American and a first-generation student. I am the oldest brother and the oldest cousin in my family generation. I was born in urban East Los Angeles, California and raised in rural Leadville, Colorado. On top of having a burning passion for medicine, I am also enthusiastic about diversity, equity, and inclusion. I have an appreciation for civic discourse, social justice, history, and politics. I like to spend time with my family or spending it outdoors, writing poetry, mixing music and playing basketball. I earned a BS in Public Health and a BA in Ethnic Studies from the University of Colorado Denver and a MPH from the Colorado School of Public Health. I am currently applying into emergency medicine.

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