Our Purpose
The Latino Medical Student Association--Northeast (LMSA-NE), formerly known as the National Boricua Latino Health Organization (NBLHO), is a Latino student group representing health professions students from the northeast region of the United States. Its mission is to recruit Latinos into higher education, educate the public and one another about Latino health issues, advocate for increased Latino representation in health related areas, and promote awareness about social, political and economic issues as they relate to Latino health. It also serves to create a support network for Latino students.
As NBLHO, this group was formed in 1970 at Harvard Medical School in response to the need for Latino medical students to organize in favor of rampant health discrimination both inside and outside educational institutions. Today, there are approximately eleven active medical school chapters, and 200 medical student members in the area between Washington, D.C. and Maine. New chapters and members are being added every year.
LMSA-NE is fully affiliated with the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA), formerly the National Network of Latin American Students (NNLAMS). This is a national partnership between other regional Latino medical student groups to create one strong voice for Latino medical students throughout the entire United States.
