UCI School of Medicine Recognizes 2024 Hispanic Heritage Month

The theme of 2024 Hispanic Heritage Month is “Pioneers of Change: Shaping the Future Together.” This sentiment encapsulates the spirit of innovation, resilience, and unity throughout the Hispanic population, which totals 65 million people in the United States and 15.6 million in California alone. 

This month, we express our gratitude to several pioneers within our UCI community who have been recognized by their peers, colleagues, students and leadership for their positive contributions toward an equitable future in healthcare. 

Richard Echeverria

Richard Echeverria, research specialist for the Sadigh Lab, has made invaluable contributions to the laboratory’s mission to eliminate health disparities, especially in relation to lung cancer screenings.
Echeverria has been recognized for his ability to translate an understanding of socioeconomic determinants of healthcare access into meaningful interactions with patients that result in improved healthcare participation and outcomes. 

His colleagues make specific mention of Echeverria’s connections to patients, noting that he is intentional about learning more about every patient he encounters, exemplifying patience, empathy and flexibility to address each individual based on their own level of comfort and health circumstances.

Richard Echeverria Profile

Gilberto Osuna-Leon

Gilberto Osuna-Leon, MS3, a medical student in the Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community (PRIME-LC), has demonstrated his commitment to the undocumented community for several years, first by co-founding the Dreamers of Wisconsin nonprofit organization as an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, to his current work as a medical student mentor for the UCI DREAM Center.

Gilberto Osuna-Leon Profile

Valery C. Vilchez Parra, MD

Valery C. Vilchez Parra, MD, assistant professor in the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery, has made significant contributions to academic medicine in the areas of education, research and clinical care. She is also a passionate advocate for the Latino physicians’ community as the co-founder of the Latino Physician Outreach Group at UCI. 
 

Valery C. Vilchez Parra, MD, Profile

Each of these individuals represent the significance of Hispanic and Latino representation in all aspects of our mission to: Discover. Teach. Heal. While we applaud the groundbreaking work that has been done, we recognize that there is always more work that can and should be done.

The Office of Belonging, Equity and Empowerment is partnering with PRIME-LC, the UCI School of Medicine Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA), the UC PRIME Pre-Health Pathways Program (UC3P), Chicanos/Latinos for Community Medicine (CCM) and the UCI Health Latinx Physicians Outreach Group to host concurrent events at the School of Medicine and UCI Medical Center on Tuesday, Oct. 1, in recognition of National Latinx Physician Day (NLPD) – a nationwide campaign to bring awareness to the shortage of Latino physicians and promote active pathways and opportunities to increase representation in the field.

We invite you to join us to celebrate NLPD on campus or at the UCI Health Medical Center in Orange. Light refreshments will be served, and remarks from medical students and faculty will be delivered from noon to 12:30 p.m. at both locations.

Tuesday, Oct. 1
Noon to 1 p.m.
Medical Education Building Patio

Tuesday, Oct. 1
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
UCI Medical Center – Healing Garden Walkway

Both events are free to attend and do not require registration. We hope you will join us as we celebrate the “Pioneers of Change” in our communities.