Why is it that Hispanics make up 20% of the U.S. population, but only 6% of the physician workforce? Well, Dr. Pilar Ortega, president of the National Association of Medical Spanish and co-founder of the Medical Organization for Latino Advancement, is working towards closing that gap. As an immigrant herself, she and her family have experienced trying to navigate a medical system that wasn’t designed for them. Now as an emergency physician and clinical associate professor with dual appointments at the University of Illinois Chicago Departments of Emergency Medicine and Medical Education physician, she’s tackling those issues head-on. Dr. Ortega utilizes her bi-cultural background in her work with NAMS and MOLA, creating resources and credentials for Spanish-speaking providers including two books published by our parent company, Elsevier: Spanish and the Medical Interview: A Textbook for Clinically Relevant Medical Spanish, and Spanish and the Medical Interview: Clinical Cases and Exam Review.  Don’t miss this enlightening episode of Raise the Line as Dr. Ortega shares her thoughts with host Shiv Gaglani on why language is a professional skill, the importance of language re-education, and the discrimination both Latino providers and patients face.Mentioned in this episode: https://www.namspanish.org/