Aliza Lopez

Identifying the significance of both medical and cultural literacy in practice, this presentation focused on the principles of cultural competence in the healthcare sector. The role of this skillset in minority populations and why this application is necessary in the demographics of global and public health were discussed. Other points included how failing to acknowledge one's culture can impact one's mental well-being, how groups may question the validity of one's identity, and cases of bias throughout marginalized communities in medicine. Critical points included "subjective treatment" by considering patients' linguistic abilities, socioeconomic status, familiarity with the modern healthcare system, representation of ethnic groups in clinical studies, as well as gender and sex differences. These concepts were discussed in the context of business, socially, and clinically.

At Girl Up Foundation's Global Leadership Summit in 2022, I presented at the Day of Action: Professional Development session alongside 3 other youth speakers, amassing participants from 4 continents. Through this session, we discussed goal-setting, intention-setting, "finding your purpose," the power of diction in creating goals, levels of impact when launching new projects, and assessing goals through benchmarks, through different concepts and interactive activities.

Conditional on accepting my mPower Award at the 2023 #NextGenPrevention conference, I delivered a speech about the importance of acknowledging humanistic qualities in all patients receiving mental healthcare — including their backgrounds, linguistics, and values — and recognizing the nuances between the patient body. A bulk of this presentation was also centered on why youth, the demographic at the forefront of mental health advocacy, should continue to have their voices and efforts amplified. Referencing my organization, Medicine Encompassed, as a prime example of how youth passion and non-complacency can translate over to tangible impact — my remarks were spoken with empowerment and hope for the next generation of health advocacy.