State Task Force Receives Recommendations to Improve Immigrant, Minority Care

Orange County residents, community leaders and care providers yesterday recommended various initiatives that members of the state Task Force on Culturally and Linguistically Competent Physicians and Dentists could implement to make health care more accessible to immigrants and minorities, the Orange County Register reports. Among the recommendations the task force is considering is a pilot program that would allow doctors licensed in Mexico or the Caribbean to practice in not-for-profit health centers. In addition, the group is looking at reserving medical residency positions specifically for individuals who graduated from foreign medical schools. During yesterday's meeting, Ferdinand Rojo, who practiced medicine in the Philippines, told task force members of his difficulty in being accepted to a residency program. The task force also is considering a continuing education program that would help doctors address patients' language needs. The program would aim to prevent providers who have "inadequate knowledge" of a patient's language or culture from making "bad diagnoses" or prescribing incorrect treatments. The task force is expected to make its recommendations later this year, the Register reports (Canto, Orange County Register, 1/23).