Executive CouncilJuan Carlos López
Hometown
Hollywood, CA
Undergraduate School
University of California Berkeley
Medical School
Cooper Medical School of Rowan University
When did you become involved in LMSA? What encouraged you to be a part of LMSA?
I first became involved with LMSA via their UCSF chapter San Francisco. They comprised a large part of the medical student task force at a free, student run community health clinic aimed at providing basic medical services to the underserved and under/uninsured Latino communities in South San Francisco (Clinica Martin Baro - http://clinicamb.blogspot.com/p/contact-us.html) . The heart and soul poured into this project provided critical services for people left marginalized by the current health care delivery system as it stands. My involvement there spurred a career switch at 28 years of age to pursue medicine.
What do you expect to accomplish this year in your position?
My aim is to not only strengthen the LMSA-NE media presence, but to raise awareness within and outside of the LMSA to the issues our communities face everyday. Many of the problems Latinos and Latinas face will not be solved simply through our involvement in medicine, education or our communities, but it does start there. On a more concrete note, I hope to make the transition from independent media hosting to a centralized, national media hosting experience a smooth one, both for our members and our executive board members.
Career goals?
I thought my third year would have helped me pick a specialty, but I ended up liking more things than I had originally started with. Current possibilities as a career are: psychiatry, general surgery, family, PM&R, clown college or professional downhill skateboarder. Time will tell... regardless of which path, I hope to keep minority empowerment, education and mentorship as mainstains of my personal and professional life.
Hobbies.
Skate/snow-boarding, science fiction, computer programming, Olympic weightlifting, traveling/exploring and amateur mixologist
