Vanessa Armendariz says her goal is to go to medical school and become a primary care physician so she can help serve her community. (Photo Courtesy of Vanessa Armendariz)

Like any child, I was terrified of going to the doctor. But as a child of a low-income family in Stockton, my reasons were different.

I wasn’t afraid of a shot. Instead, I dreaded the hours-long waits and seeing my parents struggle to afford the visits. I couldn’t stand my family feeling unheard or helpless.

I wanted to change that for families like mine, so I decided to become a doctor.

But in high school, I was told that as a low-income Latina, my chances of getting pregnant were higher than going to college. My mother was pregnant at 16, and no one in my family had attended college, so it was hard to argue those statistics.

I interacted with physicians I could relate to. They came from low-income, minority backgrounds and were passionate about giving back. I realized that if they could do it, so could I. I excelled academically and graduated high school as valedictorian. I was even accepted to my dream school, Johns Hopkins University, on a scholarship. There, I met world-renowned physicians, traveled to Honduras and mentored Latino youth. My students, many of whom were undocumented, gang-affiliated, or from low-income households, reminded me of myself.

I met students like my brothers, who were capable but never attended college because they felt compelled to provide for their families. Many children of low-income families have this mindset. The only way to change it is to help them believe they can pursue their goals and to show them how. That’s what mentors from difficult backgrounds who have achieved their dreams can do. When we inspire and challenge our young people of color, they achieve much more than they’ve imagined.

Today, I work at the San Joaquin Medical Society in Stockton, a job that includes facilitating the very program that got me started. I will apply to medical school this summer.

I hope to return to the San Joaquin Valley to practice medicine and to help more families trust their doctors, rather than fear them; to deliver quality care — regardless of income, or language, or the struggles they’ve faced. If more young people of color get the kind of help I did, the future of health care in all communities will be brighter.

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(Adrian Clark: Flickr)

It’s off to the races now.

With the health overhaul (mostly) upheld by the Supreme Court, the January 1, 2014 deadline for the rollout of the Affordable Care Act is looming — in particular for the board of the Health Benefit Exchange. That’s the group tasked with developing an online marketplace where Californians will be able to buy health insurance. Yesterday, KQED’s Mina Kim attended the board’s first meeting since the ACA was upheld. Today I went to a meeting of the Latino Coalition for a Health California. It was sort of a point-counterpoint experience.

First, from Mina Kim. As she detailed on The California Report:

Hundreds of people packed the auditorium in Oakland yesterday where the Board meeting was held. At issue for many people was that health plans have a standard format so that it’s easy for consumers to compare costs and benefits.

Betsy Imholz, with the advocacy group Consumers Union, told Kim that this is a critical time for the exchange. “It’s where the rubber meets the road … figuring out what plans will be part of the exchange.”

Some health plan representatives warned against putting too many requirements on insurers — which could make plans expensive. To make his point, Charles Bacchi with the California Association of Health Plans held up the Exchange’s 260- page document of recommendations.

“This is really a big document!” he said, to laughter from the audience.

The board has just fifteen months to get its market place up and running. The Health Exchange Board’s goal is to have an operable exchange by October 2013 — so Californians can buy insurance and be ready for the January 1, 2014 roll out. Board member Paul Fearer told Kim, ”It’s a lot of work, but we’ve got a lot of passionate people a great staff and a really good board, so that gives us a great chance.”

Today, members of the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California (LCHC) struck a more sobering note at its scheduled meeting. While the January 2014 deadline is looming, LCHC Board Director Gil Ojeda worries the Exchange planning process is nonetheless moving too quickly. “When you move a freight train at 90 miles an hour, some things are going to get put aside,” he told me, a reference to interim deadlines to have the essential health benefits determined that plans must meet. “We’re not convinced this can all be hashed out in the next 45 days.” He wondered why plans must be determined by September. “Why not October, or November?” he mused.

Many at the meeting were also concerned that the state lacks the primary care providers it will need to absorb the estimated 3 million Californians who will be newly insured. “I can tell you right now,” Ojeda said. “We don’t have a chance of achieving the numbers (of primary care providers) we need by 2014.”

The board of the California Health Benefit Exchange meets monthly — its next meeting is August 23. Stay tuned. The train is moving fast, as Ojeda noted.