LHS+ Medical Student History and Heritage of the U.S. Northeast Region

The Northeast region has the third-largest LHS+ population in the country. Harvard Medical School, with its formation of the Boricua Health Organization (BHO), in 1972, stakes claim to the oldest LHS+ regional medical student organization of the Latino Medical Student Association. The foundation and evolution of BHO to the Boricua Latino Health Organization (BLHO) and then National BLHO in the 1990s, was a reflection of LHS+ youth gathering into a critical mass to succeed in their dream of becoming health professionals and addressing health inequities in their underserved communities. As they entered an unfamiliar homogenous, hierarchical culture, often with limited resources for academic success and defying stereotypes to maintain a positive LHS+ identity, the constant inner whisper of ‘Pa’lante, Siempre Pa’lante’ (Iris Morales. ¡Palante Siempre Palante! http://archive.pov.org/palantesiemprepalante/) has led to generations of LHS+ Northeast physician leaders.