Background

In 1970, a Chicano student health organization was created at UCLA by a group of five Chicanos. These students realized the need for a group that could provide the moral support needed to endure and persevere the hardships of college life. They came together with the purpose of changing the health care system to better meet the needs of underserved communities.       Chicanos(as) / Latinos(as) for Community Medicine (CCM) has grown tremendously over the past years. It is an organization with strong leadership and large membership who is dedicated to the original cause: providing better health care to the Latino communities. Our program is organized to include recruitment, retention, peer counseling and community service projects. We realize that Chicano/Latino health care rests in our hands, therefore our purpose is more than just being admitted to health professional schools. By providing the best medical treatment to underserved communities, we are going to be leaders and role models. As we prepare ourselves for professional schools, we know that our struggle is not just for ourselves, but for our families and communities.       As an undergraduate Chicano(a) / Latino (a) pre-health organization committed to improving the quality of the health care system available to our communities, our goals are the following: To recruit and retain Chicano (a) / Latino (a) students by providing academic and moral support to those who express an interest in the healthcare professions. To educate and develop a greater awareness of the healthcare problems and issues existing in critically underserved areas. To provide health services and education to the Chicano(a) / Latino(a) communities by conducting various community projects. To increase health care delivery to the underserved Chicano / Latino population by returning to our communities and serving our people as trained health professionals.

    The Need

Historically, the Chicanos/ Latinos and other minority groups have carried a disproportionate share of society's problems. Even today, in one of the most technologically advanced societies, we continue to suffer in all areas including inadequate access to health care. Minorities have a higher rate of almost every disease and miss more days of work due to illness and disability than all other groups. Furthermore, Chicanos and Latinos compose 27% of the U.S population and yet only 2% are physicians. Besides having to compete for limited health services, the Chicano/Latino suffers the added burden of coping with monolingual, monocultural health professionals who are ambivalent to their patient's language and cultural needs. To change this insufficiency we must produce health care professionals committed to serving these communities.

Copyright © 2009 Chicanos/Latinos for Community Medicine at UCLA | Maintained by Rozanne Carlos