Juan Rojas

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Interview Text and Audio

Abstract

Juan Rojas was born in Miami, Florida, but moved to his family's home country of Colombia when he was two months old. After living in various parts of Colombia for twelve years, Rojas and his family returned to Miami. The family briefly lived in Tennessee before they moved to Asheboro, North Carolina upon Rojas' and his brother's acceptance into the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The interview discusses Rojas' transition into American society and his struggles through middle and high school due to his limited knowledge of English. Rojas also talks about his father's work as a doctor and his own experiences with medical and dental health care access in Colombia and in the United States.

R0479_Audio.mp3

Transcript

Makani Dollinger: Okay. My name is Makani Dollinger and I'm interviewing Juan-
Juan Rojas: Rojas.
MD: Rojas. In Cobb Dormitory on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's campus. Today is April the 16th, approximately 11am. And we are going to begin.
Okay, Juan, how old are you?
JR: I am twenty.
MD: And where are you from?
JR: My whole family is from Columbia, but I was born in Miami. And when I
was like two months old, me and my brother, we moved back to Columbia. Then we
lived there for twelve years, and then came back here.
MD: Where in Columbia?
JR: We lived close to the capitol Bogota. It's called Giradot.
MD: What was it called?
JR: Giradot.
MD: How do you spell that?
JR: G-I-R-A-R-D-O-T. Yeah.
MD: Giradot, okay.
JR: Yes.
MD: How old is your brother?
JR: He is my twin.
MD: Oh.
JR: So twenty. Yeah.
MD: And you, tell me about your educational experience here, like where are you
at right now?
JR: I'm ajunior. Biomedical engineering junior major, so I have one more year.
MD: A biomed?
JR: Biomedical engineering. Yeah.
MD: Oh did you make up that major?
JR: No, they have it here.
MD: Really?
JR: Yeah.
MD: What about your brother?
JR: He is in biology and pre-med.
MD: Okay.
JR: Yeah.
MD: What do you want to do with your major?
JR.: I'm not exactly sure yet because biomedical engineering is very broad. So,
I'm not sure yet, maybe prosthetics or reparative engineering. Yeah, but I'm not sure yet.
I'm going to go to grad school for something.
MD: Yeah, I was going to ask if you had to go to grad school for that.
JR: Yeah. I pretty much have to.
MD: Yeah.
JR: Yeah, they won't hire me with just an undergraduate degree.
MD: Where would you go to grad school?
JR: Maybe Duke. I know that's bad, but they have a really good program. Maybe
Florida because my parents live there right now. And it's a good school. I guess I would
look at Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech. Yeah. So I want to stay around this area because I
really like it.
MD: Do you want to eventually work here in North Carolina?
JR: Yeah, I would. I would really like that.
MD: So, tell me about, from what you can remember, going to school—describe
going to school in Columbia and then coming here. Was that a difficult transition for
you?
JR: Well, school there is harder than here. Like, not college but like primary
education. Yeah. I guess the difficulty wasn't a big change, but I guess just learning in
like a different language. It was really a challenge because the first couple of years that
we lived here, we lived in Miami for, however, I guess a year, and they had like ESL. So
it was—in Miami, they spoke Spanish to you all the time. But then we moved to Westin,
which is North Miami, and they spoke English, but you took classes with just Spanish speaking people. So, the first couple of years weren't that bad, and then we got to regular
classes, and that was a little bit harder. Just because you were with, everybody spoke
English and all your professors spoke English, they didn't understand Spanish. So, it was
a little, but it wasn't that bad.
MD: What grade did you start in the United States?
JR: Seventh grade.
MD: And you didn't speak any English when you went?
JR: No.
MD: Wow.
JR: Yeah.
MD: What about your parents?
JR: So they actually met in L.A. like twenty some years ago studying English.
Yeah. So, my mom, she, she gets, she like, she's not completely fluent, but she gets by
pretty well.
MD: Still, even today?
JR: Yeah. And my dad is fluent, he speaks it really well.
MD: Describe, I guess, your entire living experiences. You know, where you were
born, and then you went back to Columbia, and then you moved here, and now you're
here in North Carolina. So, where were the various places that you lived?
JR: Okay, well, we lived in Miami for two months.
MD: That's where you were born.
JR: Right. Then we went back to Columbia to Metagene for a couple months, and
then Bogota for a couple months. And then we lived in a really small, it was a farm close to a really small town called Apulo, for five years. And then we moved to Giradot, where
we lived for about six years, I guess. And then we came to Miami. We lived for six
months, moved to Westin where we lived for three years. Then we moved to Tennesse,
and that's where we went to high school 10th-12th. And then we moved to Asheboro, NC,
we lived there for two years. My dad wasn't happy with his job, so he moved to, he found
a job in Jacksonville. So, now we're living in Jacksonville. So, we've moved around a lot.
MD: Are you considered an in-state student.
JR: Yes, but it's because we are living with some friends in Charlotte.
MD: Okay.
JR: Yeah.
MD: That's good.
JR: Yeah, it's a lot cheaper.
MD: Yeah, it's a lot cheaper. If you can, to your best knowledge, describe your
father's experiences. I guess if you can go back to his education to the occupation that he
has now.
JR: Okay. Well, I think he went to a really good university for medicine in
Columbia. And, so I think he has a very good background. And, he, so there, they don't
have licenses for surgery or anything, so he pretty much just worked all over the place.
Like, intensive care, surgery--.
MD: Like no specializing you mean?
JR: Right. Yeah, no specializing. I guess you can do it but a lot of people didn't.
But you can still work in pretty much anything. So, he did a lot of things. And then when
he came here he had to get his license. So he had to pass the board exams, there's three. So he, it was really tough, because he would study for three days straight, he would work for three days straight, he would take a day off. And he would just keep doing that. He
did that for about three years. And he passed them. Yeah, it was tough. He's a smart guy.
So then he passed them and then he went to do his residency in Tennessee. That's why
we moved to Tennessee. And then, when we graduated from high school and were
coming here, they wanted to be close to us so, he found a job in Asheboro, but then it just
wasn't working out very well. So he found a job through a friend in Jacksonville, who's
also a doctor in the hospital down there.
MD: So, going back, did he go straight from high school in Columbia to the
medical university?
JR: Yes. So they don't have undergraduate and then medical school. Yeah, they
have medical school and then they have like a fellowship and then a residency. Yeah. So
it's still a long time, but they don't have just undergraduate and then med school. They
have one big, long thing.
MD: When you were talking about how he studied for three days and then worked
for three days, was that when you were living in and outside of Miami?
JR: Right. Yeah, that was. He actually worked at night in this sleep lab at the
clinic in Westin. So, he would work then sleep all day pretty much, go to work again,
sleep. I guess he would take a break, and then study for three days and then just keep
going.
MD: And, in Jacksonville now, what is, is he a general doctor, family--?
JR: He's a hospitalism So, what that means is he just sees patients in the hospital,
not clinic. So, he doesn't admit patients. He just, he pretty much takes care of patients while they're in the hospital. It can be after surgery, or if they've been in the ER. Yeah,
so he just takes care of them until they are ready to go home.
MD: Is this just a general hospital?
JR: Yeah.
MD: Okay. And, what about your mother, her education and her occupation?
JR: She went to school for interior design.
MD: Where?
JR: In Metagene.
MD: Oh.
JR: Yeah. But, she actually didn't do that to much. She actually worked kind of
like an architect for most of her time in Columbia. So like drawing stuff and making little
models. Then when she came here, she didn't have a license to do anything so she
worked like nannying and preschool and stuff like that. Yeah, but then she's not working
now, thankfully.
MD: She's not working now?
JR: She's not working now.
MD: That's nice. Is medicine a common interest in your family or did your father
kind of initiate that?
JR: He kind of initiated that. Let's see. Yeah. Because my uncle he does, I'm not
sure what he does. Not medicine. And, yeah.
MD: So I'm guessing you and your brother's interests in medicine were sparked
by your father's.
JR: I think so, probably, yeah.
MD: Yeah. Did you ever do any shadowing with him?
JR: No. See, I'm actually not trying to go to med school or anything.
MD: Right.
JR: But, I don't think we were allowed to while he was working in Tennessee or
anything. And I guess we were just too little in Columbia. So, no, we never did anything
like that.
MD: Do you still have family living in Columbia? Has anyone else moved to the
United States?
JR: My whole family lives in Columbia pretty much. Only a couple of people are
living here.
MD: What family members?
JR: They are my grandfather's sister on my mom's side, her family kind of lives
in Miami. And then, I think another aunt lives in Texas. And I think that's it.
MD: And everybody else lives in Columbia?
JR: Yeah.
MD: So, I guess, having your father with the resources and experiences he has as
a doctor what have been your specific experiences with healthcare in Columbia? If you
remember. Any emergency room visits or any doctor visits that were general?
JR: I think they were easier for us than most people just because my dad was a
doctor. So I don't really know how most people, how the experience was for most people,
but ours was always pretty good, I guess, because you know it was a doctor helping out
another doctor. So, yeah. I had to go to the emergency room once because I was running
and I hit this metal thing right here. I got stitches and everything and I didn't have to wait at all. They just took me to the surgery or something. Yeah. So, it was always really good,
and we never had any problem or anything. But, I don't know about now I think it's
gotten a lot better in Columbia now, but doctors would not be paid sometimes for like
two or three months. So if they don't get paid, I don't see how the healthcare can be very
good for everybody. So, I'm not sure of this, but this is just what I think.
MD: No, yeah. You're opinions are welcome.
JR: Yeah. So.
MD: Can you compare any of those experiences with any that you've had in the
United States?
JR: I don't know. It's been, I would say, about the same just because my dad's a
doctor. So, I guess he just calls other doctors and they do him a favor of, you know,
looking at us or doing a procedure or something. So, yeah, I think it's been pretty good in
both countries.
MD: By saying that your father has these networks and resources, do you mean
that you receive those services at reduced cost or do you receive those services, are you
more accessible to them?
JR: Yes, more accessible. I think we have, I mean, we have to pay I guess the full
amount just because we want to be fair to the other doctors. But, it just that, you know,
sometimes the other doctors, you have to make an appointment and you have to wait two
months or something, and my dad calls and we can be seen in like two weeks or
something like that. So, it's things like that. So, yeah, they're a lot more accessible
because my dad's a doctor.
MD: Can you speak on cost differences between services offered here and in
Columbia?
JR: I'm sorry, I don't really know.
MD: That's okay.
JR: I don't really know.
MD: Or maybe, has your dad ever talked about the differences in his salary?
JR: Well, well he's earning a lot more here for sure. I think, I don't know, they
just, I think medicine is more expensive here because doctors are worried they're going
to get sued for malpractice so they just order a bunch of tests that might be unnecessary.
Because they can, pretty safely, come to conclusion that maybe that's what's wrong with
this person, and there's a very low chance something else is wrong. So, in Columbia, you
can just do the test for what you think is wrong, and not do the test for what is probably
not it. And, if, for some reason, it was the thing that they thought it wasn't, yeah, then
they can't get sued. But here, if you don't order these tests and the person happens to
have that, then you get sued. So, a lot more money is wasted here. Just because they do so
many more exams. Unnecessary exams. Yeah.
MD: And that's just because of malpractice?
JR: They just don't want to get sued.
MD: Right.
JR: So they're just protecting themselves.
MD: And that's not as stressed or that's not a law in Columbia? Or is it that
people can't afford to even sue the doctor?
JR: I don't, I don't think it's not that they can't afford because people probably
can find any excuse to sue a doctor. I guess it just isn't as stressed. Or maybe there is no
law. I'm not sure. But, I think it's a good thing. Because, I mean, doctors went to medical
school, you know, they're qualified. So.
MD: What do you think is good?
JR: That in Columbia, that they don't, you can't get sued, well I don't know if
you can't, but that people don't get sued for, maybe not prescribing an exam that is very
rare. Or something like that.
MD: And, because of that, that's probably a factor as to why expenses are less in
Columbia than--?
JR: I would think so.
MD: Yeah.
JR: Like I said, I don't really know.
MD: Yeah.
JR: This is my opinion. That's what I think, but I'm not really sure.
MD: Can you shed any light on insurance?
JR: I can't imagine they were very good.
MD: Do you know if you had medical insurance in Columbia?
JR: I don't remember, I'm sure we did. Some kind of insurance.
MD: Do you know about here?
JR: Yeah, we have insurance through the hospital.
MD: Have you always?
JR: Actually yes because when my dad worked in Westin, the clinic, they had
insurance for all the employees, which was really good. And then in Tennessee, when he
was at residency in Tennessee, he had insurance through the College of Medicine. And
then here, we have insurance through the hospital. So, we've always had insurance. And,
so, it's been really good. And, in Columbia, I, I don't really know.
MD: That's okay.
JR: I'm sorry I don't know.
MD: Do you know about your family members by chance?
JR: I, I'm pretty sure they have insurance. And, I don't know if it works as
efficiently as it does here. Like they just cover however much. But, I'm pretty sure they
have insurance.
MD: You said your mother, she can get by with the English that she does know—.
JR: Yeah.
MD: Does she ever have any issues of going to the doctor or any healthcare
facility and being able to communicate?
JR: I don't think so. She's very well, how do you say this, very smart. She just,
she gets her point across. So yeah, I don't think she ever has problems. Which is really
good.
MD: Does your dad ever exclaim having patients who don't speak English, and he,
I guess, can communicate with them because he has that Spanish-speaking background?
JR: I think, in Tennessee, he saw a lot more Hispanic patients because he was like
the only doctor, actually there were two doctors who spoke Spanish in the whole hospital.
So, they would just send them to him. But, here, or in Jacksonville, I'm not sure. I think, I don't think he, I mean, I don't think he sees patients who are Hispanic just because of
chance. But, I don't think they're assigned to him or anything.
MD: Does he ever speak about, I guess, their, like why they're coming to the
hospital? Like, are they only coming for emergency visits, or do they come for checkups?
I don't know if he ever worked in a smaller clinic where it was reduced cost or free
to some people.
JR: No, I don't think he did. And, here, he only sees patients who have been
hospitalized, so it's not just check-ups. But then, back in Asheboro, he worked with a, a
family practice. And, I think just normal people, well normal people, that sounds terrible,
just everybody, they just go for check-ups. And, I don't know, yeah he never worked in
any clinic that was cheaper for Hispanics or anything like that. Yeah.
MD: Did you go, as a child and even now, to the general doctor in Columbia for
regular check-ups, as well as when you went to the emergency room?
JR: Yeah. Yes.
MD: Okay.
JR: Yeah.
MD: Always?
JR: Yeah.
MD: Okay.
JR: Yeah, so my dad could do little procedures like, I don't know, taking out the
stitches. Little things like that, but, yeah, for check-ups we went to the general doctor.
Yeah, even now.
MD: I want to specifically ask specifically about your experiences with the dentist
because I want to be a dentist one day, and have had quite a few experiences volunteering
as an assistant and working in various clinics. Can you tell me about your experiences
with the dentist in Columbia?
JR: They were always really good. They were always really good dentists. They
were not, they were really nice people and they were really good at what they did. And
even here, I guess we've gotten lucky with the dentist and, yeah. I don't know what else
to tell.
MD: Why and how often did you go to the dentist in Columbia?
JR: Oh man. Every year? I don't remember.
MD: For?
JR: I guess just, cleanup.
MD: Cleanings?
JR: Yeah.
MD: Did you ever have a cavity that you needed to get filled.
JR: No.
MD: What about in the United States?
JR: No.
MD: Did you continue to go to the dentist for a yearly visit once you lived here as
well?
JR: I think the first couple of years we didn't just because it was expensive. But, I
think once my dad got his residency in Tennessee, I think we started going like every
year. I think it's every year. Yeah.
MD: Do you still now, in college, go once a year?
JR: Yes.
MD: Where?
JR: Last time I went was in Jacksonville, I think. Actually, I got my wisdom teeth
taken out in Jacksonville, but~Actaully, no.
MD: It's okay.
JR: We did have a cleanup, or cleaning in Jacksonville last semester. Yeah.
MD: When you say we, do you mean you and your brother?
JR: Yeah.
MD: What about your parents? Do you have any idea?
JR: I think they did too. Yeah.
MD: Can you speak of any experiences your parents have had with the dentist in
Columbia?
JR: Well, when dentists see the work dentists in Columbia have done to my mom
they always say it was really good. So, I don't know if that—.
MD: Yeah, that's interesting.
JR: Yeah, and it's still, sometimes you have to replace, I don't know what it is--.
MD: Crowns?
JR: Yeah. You have to replace them, but then they tell her that they don't need to
be replaced and they're just really good. So, I don't know if it's just—actually one of
close family friends is a dentist, or was a dentist back in Columbia, so he did that. So, I
don't know if it's just that dentistry is very good in Columbia in general or if just him
was really good. But yeah, dentists here are always impressed.
MD: Is it the same, as for doctors, that dentists sometimes don't get paid? Do you
know?
JR: I don't know, but I would imagine so. Just because dentists are not, they're
not doctors, or I mean, how do you say this, they don't have to be technically in the
hospital. So, I think the hospitals have a bigger priority and, as in where the money goes,
so, I think dentist probably have the same problem. Yeah.
MD: Do you think that we could infer from your lack of going to the dentists
when you first moved to the United States compared to Columbia being that the cost of
getting a cleaning was more expensive in the United States than Columbia?
JR: Yeah. For sure. And just braces here are super expensive and in Columbia
they're not. I mean, they're still expensive but they're not as expensive as they are here.
So, I think, I think dentistry is more expensive here than in Columbia. Yeah. For sure.
MD: Do you have any friends that are Columbian, or family members, that had an
issue with dentistry, or with dental services, or medical services and went back to
Columbia or they're country of origin to receive that treatment?
JR: Yes. I don't know what exactly, what specific problem they had, but I just
know that a lot of people, or just friends who live here and family go back to Columbia to
get procedures done there because it's cheaper. Yeah. And, yeah, it seems a lot cheaper
and I guess the, again I don't know if dentists are just really good over there, or is it they
just know really good dentists. But, they prefer to go back, if they can, to do a procedure
there. Because it's cheaper and it's still good quality.
MD: When you were living in Miami, or here in North Carolina, did you ever
have friends or you yourself visit dental clinics or medical clinics that were at subsidized
cost?
JR.: I don't think so. No, I don't think so. Or if they did, I don't know it, but, I
don't know.
MD: Does your dad ever work in clinics apart from his occupation at the hospital?
JR: No, he doesn't. No.
MD: I've worked as a dental assistant in a professional office, as well as at these
free dental clinics. Many in North Carolina, and also I've gone to various Latin American
countries and worked in clinics there, and I noticed that accessibility to the dentist for
Latin American immigrants living in the United States was a huge factor determining
whether or not they received services. However, with my research I've found that an even
bigger factor is not that these patients aren't knowledgeable of the clinics. You know, I
just thought oh there's a free clinic in Carrboro and the reason those people aren't
receiving their dental healthcare is because they don't know about it. But really it was
they do know about it, they just show up, wait in line for three hours and don't get seen.
Or can't got when the clinic is offered.
I guess, what I want to ask from you since you've never been to these clinics, is
do you think, what do you propose would improve accessibility for those patients,
speaking from your experiences in Columbia and then comparing them to your
experiences here in the United States?
JR: Well obviously having more of those clinics and having more doctors who are
willing to do that. Also, I don't know how you would reduce cost of all of the procedures.
So, yeah, if reducing cost I think would just, it would just help a lot because then people
would be willing to pay maybe a little bit more or a little bit to get a procedure done, and,
and yeah just having more clinics. I don't know how you'd do that. Getting more doctors
to do it for free I guess.
MD: That's exactly what I was proposing in my presentation. That more
professionals offer their time because, you know, it's all these non-profit organizations
and they can run them by having students like me or students in the dental school work
for free and in exchange they get credit for so many fillings that they did that day in the
clinic rather than getting paid. So that is one option.
JR: I think that would really, really work because I don't think people mind if
somebody studying dentistry or a dentist does their work because I guess they're just so
grateful and they just want to have it done. So, it doesn't really matter, you know, if
there's a fully qualified dentist or like a dentistry student, as long as, as long as they get it
done. So, just having more people like yourself, I think that would greatly help all the
people who cant' afford the procedures.
MD: Has your dad ever spoken about experiences with patients where they come
in and need to receive treatment, but can't afford it? Does he ever send them to clinics?
JR: I don't know
MD: You don't know? It's okay.
JR: If he has, I don't remember.
MD: Can you speak about any experiences that you or your family has had with
any healthcare services as far as, I guess, being stereotyped for being Columbian here in
the United States?
JR: I don't think we've ever had a problem. Maybe that's because people know
my dad's a doctor, so they respect us more. But, we've never had a problem.
MD: What about friends?
JR: I don't know. I don't think so. But, I'm not really sure.
MD: A lot of times in the clinics that I work in, a majority of the patient
population is Spanish-speaking and I also work as an interpreter there. And, I see
stereotyping there.
JR: Really?
MD: Just, kind of based on knowledge of the services they're receiving. Can you
give any opinion on that? About, maybe your experiences in Columbia in elementary and
middle school being exposed to different preventative techniques that you could take as a
child. Were you taught that by somebody besides your parents in school? For example,
did you ever have a health career fair day or something where a professional dentist came
and taught you what preventative techniques to follow as a kid?
JR: No, that never happened. I just remember once people came selling
toothbrushes and stuff, but I think they just wanted to get our money.
MD: At school?
JR: Yeah. So, no we never had anything like that. It was always my parents who
told us, you know, brush your teeth. And, they have, I don't know what they call here,
they're sealants, I don't, they have them, everybody gets them in Columbia. But, I think
that not everybody gets them here. So, I think that really helps against cavities, and
maybe that's why I don't have cavities. Not just because I brush my teeth or anything. But, yeah, nobody ever at school told us, you know, to have good oral health or anything,
it was always my parents. Yeah.
MD: What about diet or anything? Like, don't eat lolli-pops or anything.
JR: Not really.
MD: No?
JR: My dad always tells me you can always eat anything because you're growing
and you exercise. I guess, when I was little and growing up they wouldn't let us eat too
much candy and stuff. But, as we grew older they just kind of left us.
MD: But that was never stressed in school?
JR: No.
MD: Like the, you know, the food pyramid.
JR: Right, I mean we might of talked about it but--.
MD: But it wasn't stressed?
JR: No.
MD: What about your visits to the dentist, did they ever give you any products to
take home or procedures to follow?
JR: I remember one time we went and they, the dentist taught me how to brush
my teeth properly.
MD: Okay.
JR: And, I guess, you know, he told me about not eating too much candy and stuff.
So, it was just when we went to the doctor or the dentist, yeah, we received that
information.
MD: Would you say, since living in the United States, you're more
knowledgeable than you were in Columbia of preventative techniques to follow?
JR: I think so, but I think it's because I've gotten older. So, when I was a little kid,
I didn't really care, I just did what my parents told me. But here, I guess I've just grown
more aware of it, and maybe it's because here in school they stress it more, more than in
Columbia. But, yeah, I think I've gotten more aware over here.
MD: Another measure that I've taken to improve knowledge of various oral
diseases to patients, specifically Spanish-speaking patients and immigrants, I've made a
brochure that had a couple diseases and symptoms and then preventative options or
options to take care of the diseases, and I have those in some of the free clinics for people
to take. Can you shed any light on what you perceive Spanish-speaking immigrants in the
United States and how important that is to them? Any friends or family members?
JR: I think, at least in friends, it's always been important to them to have good
oral health. But I'm not sure in general. Which is like all the other Hispanics immigrating,
I don't really know.
MD: Do you think, so you mentioned that increasing the number of professionals
working at these free clinics was one option that would improve the services that are
offered, well what about these informative techniques?
JR: I think that would help too. I think most people are aware of that. But, maybe
they're not aware of how important it is. So, I think that would really help to let them
know it is important to go to the dentist.
MD: The reason I ask is because you said you weren't really exposed to that, and
so if older generations are coming to the United States and living here, and they don't
know.
JR: Right.
MD: Do you think that it matters to them? Would they take it seriously?
JR: They would if it wasn't too expensive. So, if they could go to one of those
free clinics, I think they would definitely do it. Yeah, for sure. But, yeah if they have to
pay for it and it's a lot of money—because I guess most of them maybe they couldn't
afford to go to dentists even back in their original countries, so they may have problems
with their oral health. Yeah. So they, I guess procedures they would have to get done
would be very expensive here, but if they could have them done for free or below the cost
I think they would definitely do it. Yeah, for sure.
MD: So comparing our interests, well I guess with your brothers, in healthcare for
our community, but, you know, you'll be possibly making a prosthetic leg for a Spanishspeaking
immigrant, can you give me any opinions that you may have on the future of
accessibility to healthcare and services offered for immigrants both legal and illegal
living in the United States?
JR: I think the, I guess the accessibility for those immigrants things like dentistry
or, I guess, prosthetics is growing, so I think it's going to get better. Just because people
are taking more of an interest in it, and yeah.
MD: Better how? You said it's going to get better, like reducing cost or--?
JR: I think yes reducing cost is going to be important, but I think it's people are
just going to take more interest into it, so they are going to be more, more aware of the
immigrants need these procedures and these things and hopefully, they will want to help.
And, yeah, that people are just going to be more aware of that in the future, I think. So, I
think it's definitely going to be better, and I mean, I hope so. And, I mean, if I ever, if I
ever become a biomedical engineer, I would definitely try to help people. Because I think,
I'm probably going to sound like a total jerk, but I think I'm going to earn enough money
to be able to just help people, so I won't have to worry about money to live or sustain my
family or anything. So, hopefully professionals who have degrees and have a good
income will do the same because we're not going to need all the money we earn.
MD: Do you want to target those communities?
JR: I've actually never thought about it, and maybe not specifically just target
those communities, but I definitely want to help. But, that is something to think about.
MD: Well, Juan thank you for allowing me to interview you today.
JR: You're welcome.
MD: Do you have any other comments?
JR: No.
MD: Okay.
http://dc.lib.unc.edu/utils/getfile/collection/sohp/id/6550/filename/6592.pdf