Introduction

Latina/o/x/e, Hispanic or of Spanish Origin + (LHS+) Identified Student Leaders in Medicine: More Than 50 Years of Presence, Activism, and Leadership was written by stakeholders of the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA), a national non-profit organization that exists to unite and empower current and future physicians through service, mentorship, and education to advocate for the improved health of Latina, Latino, Latinx, Latine, Hispanic, or of Spanish Origin+ (LHS+) communities in the United States (U.S.). Throughout this book we use the umbrella term LHS+ to be reflective of communities with our common geographic (e.g. Caribbean; North, Central, and South America; and Spain) and Spanish language ancestry; to recognize historical terms Latino, Latina, Hispanic, or of Spanish Origin (e.g. used on standardized surveys such as the AAMC Matriculating Student Questionnaire, AAMC Graduation Questionnaire, U.S. Census, etc.), emerging generational/non-binary terms (e.g. Latine, Latinx), with the plus ‘+’ acknowledging other terms linked to national or social identity (e.g. Mexican, Afro-Latin, Nuyorican, etc.). Throughout the book a variety of terms are used to recognize, respect, and honor historical and current individual and communal identities. Timewise, the book primarily focuses on activism since the 1960s, a time of empowerment to battle social injustices, till the present, with mention of some seminal events affecting LHS+ diversity, inclusion, and equity in medicine as early as the 1900s.