Posted on Sat, Apr. 12, 2008

We commend The Bee for its report on the University of California study showing the gap between the racial and ethnic makeup of our populations and the physicians who care for them ("Doctors not nearly so diverse as the valley," April 4, Page A-1). Providing language access and culturally proficient care is not just a good idea -- it is central to patients' health, multiple studies show. Hiring trained interpreters is one approach to language access. The ideal is to train a diverse health care work force that reflects today's society with physicians who speak the needed languages and are culturally at home among the populations they serve.

The Stanislaus Medical Society has been working as a member of the Medical Leadership Council on Language Access and Cultural Proficiency since 2002 to help improve these issues and build a more diverse health care work force. Every physician must strive to provide care that respects and is understood by patients from every culture and background. The entire community must support minority youth through the education system so that they qualify for medical school, and mentor young doctors from diverse backgrounds to help eliminate the staggering race-based health care disparities in our state and nation.

A. ERIC RAMOS, M.D.

medical director,

Del Puerto Health Center;

chief medical officer,

Doctors Medical Center;

past president,

Stanislaus Medical Society

Modesto