Do I qualify as hispanic?

[tdod]

My father and my paternal grand-parents were all born/raised in South America, but my earlier paternal ancestors were european. My father identifies as Hispanic, and I do as well. However, will med schools view a hispanic identification as disingenuous on my part? (my mother is Afghan, which I would also state on the primary).

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[7331poas]

Hispanic isn't URM. Mexican American is.

 

[md-2020]

My father and my paternal grand-parents were all born/raised in South America, but my earlier paternal ancestors were european. My father identifies as Hispanic, and I do as well. However, will med schools view a hispanic identification as disingenuous on my part? (my mother is Afghan, which I would also state on the primary).

South American isn't URM. Neither is Afghan. And neither is European, obviously. So by any definition, no.

You can "identify" as whatever you want but adcoms will pretty much see through it in 1 second when you don't have URM community involvement, speak the language, etc etc.

 

[tdod]

South American isn't URM. Neither is Afghan. And neither is European, obviously. So by any definition, no.

You can "identify" as whatever you want but adcoms will pretty much see through it in 1 second when you don't have URM community involvement, speak the language, etc etc.

I never said anything about URM, I asked about self-identifying as hispanic since both my father and his parents were born/raised in south america.

 

[LizzyM]

Is Pope Francis Hispanic? He's born & raised in Argentina but his parents were from Italy.

You can certainly check the box for Hispanic ethnicity and white and Asian race. This is how you identify. Whether it gets you any special consideration is for each adcom to decide based on the needs they are trying to meet.

 

[The Buff OP]

Hispanic isn't URM. Mexican American is.

why tho? :/

 

[Lost in Translation]

Hispanic - race (normally means native blood mixed with European blood)
Latino - ethnicity (anyone can claim Latino ethnicity, just be prepared to prove it if it isn't apparent why you're claiming such)

This is why the US government census is bull**** because Hispanic and Latino are not interchangeable terms. Sure, all* Hispanics are Latino, but not all Latinos are Hispanic.

 

[EleanorAbernathyMD]

I always find it ironic that the group label Hispanic, a perceived common geographic origin in central or south America and Spanish language, is named after the island of Hispaniola, half of which speaks a French Creole tongue.

Well, parts of that are correct. Latino, not Hispanic, refers to the "common geographic origin in central or south America" and also the Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries (eg Cuba and Dominican Republic). These are Latin American countries, hence the label "Latino." Hispanic means people originating from a Spanish-speaking country irregardless of its location. This would exclude countries like Brazil where Portuguese is the predominant language, despite it being located in "Latin America," and include Spain.

 

[EleanorAbernathyMD]

Hispanic - race (normally means native blood mixed with European blood)
Latino - ethnicity (anyone can claim Latino ethnicity, just be prepared to prove it if it isn't apparent why you're claiming such)

This is why the US government census is bull**** because Hispanic and Latino are not interchangeable terms. Sure, all* Hispanics are Latino, but not all Latinos are Hispanic.

This isn't the case. An individual from Spain is Hispanic, but they are not Latino.

 

[Lost in Translation]

That's why I put the asterisk (but forgot to insert my footnote as to why ). Thanks for doing it for me 😀

 

[jugodeparcha]

Based on what you've said, I'd say you're Hispanic. Also, I'd like to note that contrary to what others have said, Hispanic is not a race.

"People who identify with the terms “Hispanic” or “Latino” are those who classify themselves in one of the specific Hispanic or Latino categories listed on the decennial census questionnaire and various Census Bureau survey questionnaires – “Mexican, Mexican Am., Chicano” or ”Puerto Rican” or “Cuban” – as well as those who indicate that they are “another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin." Origin can be viewed as the heritage, nationality group, lineage, or country of birth of the person or the person’s ancestors before their arrival in the United States. People who identify their origin as Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish may be of any race."
Source: http://www.census.gov/population/hispanic/

"The countries or people who are in the Hispanic or Latino American groups as classified by the Census Bureau are the following: Spain, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, El Salvador, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela."
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispanic_and_Latino_Americans

So, go ahead and check the box 🙂

 

[gyngyn]

South American and European Hispanics are not under-represented in medicine.
You may identify as you feel appropriate.

 

[Lawpy]

This is why the US government census is bull**** because Hispanic and Latino are not interchangeable terms.

The US Census Bureau also groups South Asians and East Asians into a single category of Asians despite the two groups being racially, ethnically, and culturally different. But alas, this is what US medical schools follow for race/ethnicity classification.

 

[gyngyn]

The US Census Bureau also groups South Asians and East Asians into a single category of Asians despite the two groups being racially, ethnically, and culturally different. But alas, this is what US medical schools follow for race/ethnicity classification.

Each school can (and does) identify the groups that they consider UiM. Some Asian communities are under-represented and under-served.

 

[Lawpy]

Each school can (and does) identify the groups that they have identified as UiM. Some Asian communities are under-represented and under-served.

And that's always a good thing, since context matters.

 

[terra330]

The US Census Bureau also groups South Asians and East Asians into a single category of Asians despite the two groups being racially, ethnically, and culturally different. But alas, this is what US medical schools follow for race/ethnicity classification.

And it classifies middle easterners as "white", but I'm quite sure most Trump supporters won't see it that way. They really should update those classifications.

 

[Ismet]

Hispanic isn't URM. Mexican American is.

South American isn't URM. Neither is Afghan. And neither is European, obviously. So by any definition, no.

You can "identify" as whatever you want but adcoms will pretty much see through it in 1 second when you don't have URM community involvement, speak the language, etc etc.

I love how someone mentions the word "Hispanic" on SDN and the immediate response is URM this, URM that. Come on guys.

My father and my paternal grand-parents were all born/raised in South America, but my earlier paternal ancestors were european. My father identifies as Hispanic, and I do as well. However, will med schools view a hispanic identification as disingenuous on my part? (my mother is Afghan, which I would also state on the primary).

If you identify as Hispanic, then check that box.

A huge proportion of Caribbean and South American people can trace their ancestry back to Europe. I am Hispanic but my great-grandparents were from Spain. My family and I still identify as Hispanic, nothing disingenuous about that.

 

[Ismet]

Hispanic - race (normally means native blood mixed with European blood)
Latino - ethnicity (anyone can claim Latino ethnicity, just be prepared to prove it if it isn't apparent why you're claiming such)

This is why the US government census is bull**** because Hispanic and Latino are not interchangeable terms. Sure, all* Hispanics are Latino, but not all Latinos are Hispanic.

Hispanic is not a race, Hispanics can be of any race. Both Hispanic and Latino are ethnicities, though I agree they are not interchangeable in some circumstances.

 

[Lost in Translation]

Are you saying we need to add Mestizaje into the mix? I'm all for it but can the US government cope?

 

[Ismet]

Are you saying we need to add Mestizaje into the mix? I'm all for it but can the US government cope?

Mestizo. Mestizaje is the term for the process of mixing. And maybe. But that's beyond the scope of this discussion really.

 

[peyerpatch]

I always find it ironic that the group label Hispanic, a perceived common geographic origin in central or south America and Spanish language, is named after the island of Hispaniola, half of which speaks a French Creole tongue.

The word "hispanic" doesn't come from the island Hispaniola, it comes from the Latin word for Spain - Hispania. So it's not really all that ironic.

In English:
Hispanic is a term used describe things/people related to Spain and the Spanish language. This term would include Spaniards, Latin Americans from Spanish speaking countries, and arguably native spanish speakers from Equatorial Guinea. It would not include Brazil.

Latino is generally used to describe people from countries south of the United States that speak a latin derived language (but there aren't many hard and fast rules). This would include Brazil and other Spanish speaking countries of the Americas. Latino in English doesn't mean the same thing as Latino in Spanish.

Neither the term "Latino" nor "Hispanic" gives a person any insight into the persons race, just like the term "North American" wouldn't give you insight into a persons race.

OP - If you identify as Latino, put it. It's just demographic info.

 

[Technology]

why tho? :/

Are you 'genetically Hispanic?' This is probably a hard question to answer since you may potentially have mixed ancestry. Many people in Argentina, Chile, Brazil and other South American countries have mixed ancestry (usually coming from Europe, Africa and Asia, but other places as well), and some do not consider themselves Hispanic. Since you believe your ancestors are European, I (personally) would not choose Hispanic.

Geographically, you are considered in the 'Latin Realm', and your father likely comes from a Spanish-speaking country (unless your father is from one of the three countries in South America that has a different official language – Guyana, Suriname and Brazil).

I am not sure how the options work for filling out your form, but you should listen to some of the above posters who have had experience with this.

 

[The Buff OP]

Are you 'genetically Hispanic?' This is probably a hard question to answer since you may potentially have mixed ancestry. Many people in Argentina, Chile, Brazil and other South American countries have mixed ancestry (usually coming from Europe, Africa and Asia, but other places as well), and some do not consider themselves Hispanic. Since you believe your ancestors are European, I (personally) would not choose Hispanic.

Geographically, you are considered in the 'Latin Realm', and your father likely comes from a Spanish-speaking country (unless your father is from one of the three countries in South America that has a different official language – Guyana, Suriname and Brazil).

I am not sure how the options work for filling out your form, but you should listen to some of the above posters who have had experience with this.

wrong person?

 

[crunchywhit]

My father and my paternal grand-parents were all born/raised in South America, but my earlier paternal ancestors were european. My father identifies as Hispanic, and I do as well. However, will med schools view a hispanic identification as disingenuous on my part? (my mother is Afghan, which I would also state on the primary).

I am not trying to be snarky. And I have learned a lot from reading various replies about race vs ethnicity, etc.

But... I feel like if you need to ask, then no.

 

[Technology]

wrong person?

Sorry 😢. Accidentally quoted you.

I am not entirely sure why Mexican-Americans/Mexicans are given URM-status over people coming from other Hispanic countries (Mexico certainly is not as homogeneous as other Latin countries are).

My best guess would be there is a major lack of Mexican-Americans in the medical field.

 

[terra330]

Sorry 😢. Accidentally quoted you.

I am not entirely sure why Mexican-Americans/Mexicans are given URM-status over people coming from other Hispanic countries (Mexico certainly is not as homogeneous as other Latin countries are).

My best guess would be there is a major lack of Mexican-Americans in the medical field.

The idea is that the medical school population should ideally be proportional to the make up of the US population at large (and I guess the local population when it comes to individual schools). So if Mexican-Americans make up 15% of the US population but only make up 5% of the medical student population, they would be considered URMs (made up numbers btw). But if other Hispanics otherwise are represented proportionally, they wouldn't be considered underrepresented.

Where I take some issue with this is you can have pretty different results depending on how you stratify populations. If you separated everything out by country / region, you may well end up with a situation where some groups formerly considered under represented would become over represented and vice versa.

 

[jugodeparcha]

Sorry 😢. Accidentally quoted you.

I am not entirely sure why Mexican-Americans/Mexicans are given URM-status over people coming from other Hispanic countries (Mexico certainly is not as homogeneous as other Latin countries are).

My best guess would be there is a major lack of Mexican-Americans in the medical field.

It's because there's a high population of Mexican Americans in the states compared to other Hispanics, and low number of physicians to represent them.


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[Ismet]

The idea is that the medical school population should ideally be proportional to the make up of the US population at large (and I guess the local population when it comes to individual schools). So if Mexican-Americans make up 15% of the US population but only make up 5% of the medical student population, they would be considered URMs (made up numbers btw). But if other Hispanics otherwise are represented proportionally, they wouldn't be considered underrepresented.

Where I take some issue with this is you can have pretty different results depending on how you stratify populations. If you separated everything out by country / region, you may well end up with a situation where some groups formerly considered under represented would become over represented and vice versa.

And this is why each school can determine for themselves what is URM/ORM in their region. The AAMC definition is not all or none, just a guideline based on national numbers.

 

[The Buff OP]

Sorry 😢. Accidentally quoted you.

I am not entirely sure why Mexican-Americans/Mexicans are given URM-status over people coming from other Hispanic countries (Mexico certainly is not as homogeneous as other Latin countries are).

My best guess would be there is a major lack of Mexican-Americans in the medical field.

It's kewl.

Yeah, so URM just fits to a certain criteria, like only certain people (African-American, Native American, and certain Latin nations). I thought schools wanted people that came from Latino cultures and that speak Spanish. I mean how often do you run into Argentinean, Chilean, or Colombian doctors here in the US? I have only met one Colombian doc and it was at a discount clinic.

 

[7331poas]

The AAMC explicitly states they are interested in promoting the training of Mexican Americans, native Americans, and African americans.

Those are explicit.

Individual med schools can make up their individual criteria as they wish. But you guys debating over Hispanic or not Hispanic isn't really going to matter.

 

[jugodeparcha]

The AAMC explicitly states they are interested in promoting the training of Mexican Americans, native Americans, and African americans.

Don't forget Puerto Ricans! 🙂


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[7331poas]

Don't forget Puerto Ricans! 🙂


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Yes you are correct.

Their quote:

Before June 26, 2003, the AAMC used the term "underrepresented minority (URM)," which consisted of Blacks, Mexican-Americans, Native Americans (that is, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians), and mainland Puerto Ricans

 

[JD13]

Hispanic is not a race, it's an ethnicity. Basically, there are 4 races including caucasian, mongoloid or asian, negroid or black and australoid. You can be Hispanic and be of any race. So, any advice you get based upon how you look should be ignored. If you identify as Hispanic, and that's your parental heritage, then list it as such.

 

[Goro]

Spanish language skills are always a plus!

 

[7331poas]

shame to goro and jd13 for bumping this

 

[Avicenna]

You can "identify" as whatever you want but adcoms will pretty much see through it in 1 second

Lol
Adcoms see what you say, they aren't omniscient
http://nypost.com/2015/04/12/mindy-kalings-brother-explains-why-he-pretended-to-be-black/

 

[7331poas]

Lol
Adcoms see what you say, they aren't omniscient
http://nypost.com/2015/04/12/mindy-kalings-brother-explains-why-he-pretended-to-be-black/

They have eyes when you show up to the interview. Also what does your article have to do with anything at all