STUDENT VOICES - Addressing the shortage of Latinos in medicine by developing an educational pipeline from high school to medical school faculty Hispanic Center of Excellence, University of Illinois, College of Medicine The Hispanic Center of Excellence (HCOE) was established in 1991 to address the severe shortage of Latinos in medicine. The Center aims to develop an educational pipeline from high school to medical school faculty. Their mission is to improve the medical care of Latinos in Illinois by providing programs that strengthen the pipeline and increase the number of Latino applicants pursuing health careers. They aim to: develop a competitive applicant pool of Latinos for medical school admissions; enhance the academic performance and overall experience of Latino medical students; provide opportunities for faculty student research on Latino health issues for undergraduate and medical students; design curricular initiatives to increase the linguistic and cultural competence of college of medicine students; provide faculty development activities to train, recruit and retain Latino faculty; and, raise funds to support scholarships for Latino medical students. The College of Medicine is consistently ranked among the top ten medical schools for Latinos, and was ranked 1st in Latino enrollment.
