Hi friends — I’m reaching out to ask for support during a critical step in my journey to becoming a physician.

As a gay Latino and first-gen college graduate, getting to this point has taken incredible persistence. I recently completed a post-bacc program to strengthen my application — something I had to fund entirely through personal loans. Now, I’m applying to medical schools, and the costs are intense: primary and secondary application fees, exam fees, and more.

My first exposure to medicine happened as I helped drive my diabetic dad and translated for him during his office visits. Not only was it a big responsibility in my teenage years, but it also opened the window of medicine to me. After that, I studied hard and applied to the Stanford Medical Youth Science Program (SMYSP) my junior year of high school. This allowed me to shadow a doctor for the first time, take an anatomy class, and learn more about healthcare careers. As a first-generation student, these dreams can feel out of reach, but I put in the work at school. I was accepted to Princeton University on a full-ride scholarship. I graduated in 2021, and my family saw me become the first to graduate from an Ivy League university. I hold that very dearly because my dad passed away in 2022, but I’m grateful he got the chance to see me graduate, and he is one of the main motivations for me wanting to become a doctor — to make a difference in people like my dad and people in my Latino community.

I started working as a PrEP Navigator and HIV Case Manager at LifeLong Medical Care in 2021. Here, I learned about medication, learned from doctors, and learned from my patients. Most of the patients we see are low-income, LGBTQ, and people of color. I connected with patients, provided comprehensive sexual health education, navigated people through health insurance, and connected people to resources they needed. I was promoted in 2024, and now I’m an HIV Program Coordinator where I take my clinical experience and lived experience to systems-based work to maintain our HIV Care and Prevention Program.

These financial barriers shouldn’t stand in the way of someone who’s worked this hard and wants to serve underrepresented communities through medicine — but right now, I need help getting through this part.

If you’re in a position to contribute or even just share this post, I would be deeply grateful. Every dollar brings me closer to making this dream real.