Philadelphia Medicine Summer 2020 - 15

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many small businesses that belonged to the underrepresented
communities.

What challenges do Latinos(as) face who want to
become physicians?

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The stigma, especially for Latino women, that they're not as
smart as other women. Fifteen years ago it was tough. It's better
now, but it's still challenging. They need more mentors to guide
them through the process.

Have you seen a change in the type of person
who wants to be a physician?
There was a perception that you went into the medical profession
primarily to make a lot of money. That mindset has changed for
a lot of the new generation, There's a greater interest in social
issues, adapting them to medicine. I'm noticing that the people
getting into medicine today seem to realize that getting rich
should not be their goal.

What advice would you give today's medical
students?
Learn from your patients. Be curious. Empathize. Be kind. Try
to understand. Be humble. Ask the patient to "help me understand
what you're experiencing, what you're going through." Don't judge
quickly. Be thorough. Get the whole story.
Young doctors should also know that to take care of patients
they have to also take care of themselves. I skipped lunch many
times. A mistake. If the caregiver is not well, that person cannot
take care of patients.
We have to try to live careers that do not sacrifice our loved
ones, our families. We have to find better ways of managing the
mountains of paperwork that interfere with our home life and
out practice.
We need to find ways to streamline what we must do to, for
example, develop a simple, universal form of record keeping
that prevents us from having to hunt for different systems when
looking for different doctors.

What are your goals as PCMS president?
I want to focus on physician wellness. To develop and encourage
their financial, emotional wellbeing.
We've seen an increase in the burdens put on physicians. We
want to find ways to get rid of barriers that get in the way of
taking care of patients. I would love to have the old school way
of seeing patients - talking, listening, examining, without having
a computer in between.
We're in a tough spot. If we don't use the computer during
the visit, we end up with three or four hours of work at night.
Then you don't get time with your family, you don't work with
your kids on their school assignments. I've begun to shorten my
sessions with patients, then dictate a summary after the session.
But the solution to this problem hasn't been found yet.

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How has PCMS helped you?
It has been very helpful. It has opened my thinking on ways
to advocate for our patients and our practices. PCMS gives us
the opportunity to have conversations with policy makers. It has
helped me become a leader in the community of Latino-American
physicians. It has given me tools I need to help problem-solve the
issues in Latino-American physician practices.
PCMS is expert at advocating for you. Hahnemann is a good example.
Those physicians were blindsided. They received no warning that the
hospital was going to close. There was no plan. No thought to the
consequences. How it would affect patients. PCMS pushed back
to help physicians who lost their jobs, who lost residencies. PCMS
helped many find ways to continue their residencies, find matches
for their specialties. We worked to help get some measure of justice.
We recently worked on getting PPE to health care workers. We
need to continue to look for the needs and help meet them. And
we've helped develop and fund "Help the Helper," a counseling
program for physicians, nurses, residents, first responders, and
assisted living personnel.
Their video conferencing sessions are well worth you're while if
you're looking for a way to express your feelings about what you and
your coworkers have been going through.
You can find out how to sign up by going to our website at www.
philamedsoc.org, or by calling PCMS at 215-563-5343, ext. 101. *
Summer 2020 : Philadelphia Medicine 15
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Philadelphia Medicine Summer 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Philadelphia Medicine Summer 2020
