Kudos to the governor of California for signing into law the Mexican Physician Pilot program discussed in Dr. Jeffcoat’s March JADA editorial, "(Sub)Standard of Care: Will Culture Trump Competence in California?" I am a Hispanic dentist trained in a developing country who also has a master’s degree in public health from an accredited U.S. university. I work for a not-for-profit organization whose goal is to increase access to health care for the uninsured and underinsured in the Midwest.
I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to see how medicine and dentistry are practiced in both developed and developing countries. Unlike the United States, Mexico and countries in Central and South America require that their health care professionals (physicians, dentists and nurses) practice a year in rural areas, where they are usually exposed to patients who have not had previous access to medical or dental care due to a lack of money, time or transportation. By being in firsthand contact with poverty, our new health care providers learn to be compassionate and understanding, and practice holistic medical and dental care.
I do not understand why Dr. Jeffcoat thinks that these 30 Mexican dentists who will come to work in California community health centers will bring a "lower standard of care" to the less affluent, non–English-speaking patients from California. Has Dr. Jeffcoat ever visited a Mexican school of dentistry? Has she assessed the technical competency of its instructors? Has she compared their educational curriculum to the curriculum of a U.S. dental school?
While professionals from developing countries are subject to strict requirements in order to practice in the United States, American physicians and dentists travel to our countries and are allowed to practice without showing any evidence of certification or accreditation. Who makes U.S. physicians or dentists accountable when they perform an act of malpractice in our countries?
The new Mexican Physician Pilot Program law may be beneficial for both countries and, what is more important, for our vulnerable populations. You may be surprised about how much you can learn from professionals trained in countries other than the United States.
