The Weight of the White Coat: Latinos Navigating American Medicine

Little has been written about Latina/o physicians as students, people, or workers in a high-skill occupation in the United States. The Weight of the White Coat traces the life stages that Latina/o physicians follow and the social mechanisms that shape their careers, from the role of the family to different educational trajectories and even the practice of medicine. Glenda M. Flores turns a careful eye to this diverse pan-ethnic group in an elite profession, observing how demographic characteristics such as gender and ethnicity act like cumulative weights in their coat pockets, producing hindrances for some and elevating others as they provide care in poor and wealthy communities. Here, the high occupational status of Latina/o doctors offers a unique lens for examining the varied experiences of physicianhood and the still unsettled contours of Latinidad.

Glenda M. Flores is Associate Professor of Chicano/Latino Studies at the University of California, Irvine. She is the author of Latina Teachers: Creating Careers and Guarding Culture.