Description:
Victor Rodriguez’s interview was conducted on November 11th, 2021, using the Their Story platform. The interview starts with Victor Rodriguez discussing his experience growing up as a Mexican American, his parents’ experiences immigrating to the United States, how his heritage affected how he was treated with school, and his changing relationship with his Mexican American identity. Throughout the interview, Rodriguez talks about how having mentors who shared or understood his cultural heritage was a significant part of his journey to pursue medicine. When discussing his experiences in medical school, Rodriguez talks about the lack of diversity awareness in medical schools and his work to advocate for himself and other Latin American medical students. Rodriguez also discusses his experiences working in minority communities and his desire to combat health disparities. When talking about the effect of Covid-19 on his medical education, Rodriguez talks about how he feels he missed out on an important learning experience by not being allowed to see Covid patients. The interview concludes by returning to the discussion of health disparities in the United States and Rodriguez’s perspective on how increasing diversity within the medical field might be one of the best ways to continue combating those disparities.
