DACAmented Medical School Living Expenses

In August of 2021, our three incredible friends, Gilberto, Karlos, & Trinidad, embarked on one of the most selfless & challenging career routes: medicine.

All three DACAmented students accomplished the fantastic feat of earning admittance into medical school despite the tremendous challenges that come with being undocumented in the U.S. Nationally, only about ~200 medical students & residents [doctors in training] are DACA recipients. This minuscule number demonstrates the inequities & barriers undocumented students face when pursuing a career in medicine.

We are asking for community support to help fund living expenses (rent, food, gas, etc) & fees for the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE, Step 1). The licensing exam alone costs $660 plus ~$1k in prep materials. At this time, DACA students do NOT qualify for things like CALFresh, often putting these students under constant stress about even purchasing food & groceries.

Additionally, DACA recipient students are ineligible for federal loans (FAFSA, etc.) & privatized bank loans require a co-signer (a U.S citizen/resident) or have extremely high interest rates that make it almost impossible to agree upon. Most DACA med students pay for expenses out-of-pocket to avoid asking such a daunting request from a loved one. On average, medical students study ~80hrs a week, & spend what little time they have outside of the classroom either doing clinical work, volunteering, or research. This leaves no room for employment.

These three individuals carry themselves with an incredible strength that manifests as a passion for both life & medicine. Please read their blurbs below if you’d like to learn more about them. Even the strongest people need help. We love our friends dearly & want to see them shine like the stars that they are. It starts off small, a simple act of kindness. One that will help fund their living expenses so they can focus on their studies to learn how to save lives. If you’re in a position to help out, anything would be greatly appreciated! The funds are expected to cover their living expenses for the next four years.

We recognize this is not a permanent solution. We are hopeful that UC Irvine SOM will enact change to find an answer to this problem plaguing students like Karlos, Gilberto, & Trinidad in the future. Any money donated to this cause that is not used for this particular issue will be used to set up a scholarship for further undocumented students at UCI SOM.

Thank you for your time & contributions!

Meet our DACA Friends: Trinidad, Karlos, & Gilberto - link