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This past weekend, March 7-9, more than 500 medical students, pre-medical students, practicing physicians, researchers and exhibitors from across the Northeast United States gathered at the Wind Creek Event Center in Bethlehem for the 52^nd Annual Latino Medical Student Association Northeast (LMSA-NE) Regional Conference.

The LMSA chapter at Temple/St. Luke’s School of Medicine, the region’s first and only four-year medical school, secured the conference hosting bid in early 2024. The co-chairs were third-year Temple/St. Luke’s student Marcos “Gomez” Ambriz, second-year Temple/St. Luke’s student Isabela “Isa” Guet-Cruza, and third-year Columbia student Gerardo Ramos-Lemos. As chairs, they worked with their chapter peers for a full year to put together a three-day program that embodied a spirit of resilience, cultural richness, and unwavering dedication for growth and development of the Latino medical community.

Originally founded in 1972 as the National Boricua Latino Health Organization at Harvard Medical School, LMSA-NE now serves 45 active medical school chapters and over 1,300 pre-medical and medical student members and continues with its original mission: the recruitment, retention and support of underrepresented minorities into the medical field and the improvement of health care delivery to the Latino community.

“There’s a certain reverence that comes with hosting the LMSA-NE regional conference in the Lehigh Valley. A large population of our patients at St. Luke’s are Latino or Spanish-speaking,” said third-year Temple/St. Luke’s student Luis Benitez. “It gave both locals and future physicians the opportunity to connect with Latinos in health care in a way the Valley has never seen before.”

“Since the 1920s, Latino immigrants have been instrumental in the industries that shaped the Lehigh Valley,” echoed third-year Temple/St. Luke’s student Gabriela Wagoner. “This weekend, in the shadow of the former Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces, which are a symbol of history and resilience, we gathered to advance our mission of increasing Latino representation in the physician workforce. We were honored to show attendees from across the Northeast why we’re proud to call the Lehigh Valley and St. Luke’s home.”

The unique contributions of Latino individuals to regional and national health care were celebrated throughout the weekend, from Friday’s welcome remarks by Olga Negrón, the first elected Latino councilwoman in Bethlehem and current Pennsylvania executive director for the advisory commission on Latino affairs, to Saturday’s keynote speech by the Honorable Xavier Becerra, JD, 2021-’24 U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Additionally, workshops, panels, fireside chats and networking opportunities showcased attendees empowering each other to achieve success in medical school and beyond, with the goal of improving health outcomes for underrepresented communities. There was also a shared theme of addressing language barriers and promoting culturally competent health care education and services.

Senior Associate Dean of the Temple/St. Luke’s School of Medicine, Shaden Eldakar-Hein, MD, shared, “We are immensely proud of the work our students did to plan an event that empowered attendees to excel as trainees and healthcare professionals for the betterment of their patients and communities. Their hard work culminated in a weekend where their medical school peers from across the country joined them to promote the success of the nation’s future healthcare workers, think critically about pressing issues facing Hispanic patients and providers, and take advantage of programming and networking that can influence their career growth.”     

After a Saturday gala that allowed attendees to connect on a personal level and dance the night away, the conference wrapped up Sunday with closing remarks by Dr. Gilbert Burgos, interim president and chairman of the board of directors of the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA).

“We hope this weekend served as a critical space for learning, insightful discussions, and meaningful networking opportunities,” the conference chairs shared in a statement. “We hope you feel rejuvenated to tackle any obstacle, barrier, or disparity that affects our communities and the communities closest to you.”

The co-directors shared, “LMSA has cultivated an impermeable community. It is during events like this that our members, future healthcare leaders, know that they have the support and resources needed to get them past any feelings of fear, frustration or inadequacy on their journeys to becoming physicians. We are building a network of exceptional, fearless, and compassionate Latino physicians who will serve our most vulnerable communities.”