Schweitzer Fellows advancing health education in Latino community

Schweitzer Fellows advancing health education in Latino community

Tuesday, March 17, 2026

Media Contact: Kayley Spielbusch | Digital Communications Specialist | 918-561-5759 | [email protected]

Only about 6% of physicians in the United States identify as Hispanic or Latino.

Frida Miranda and Paolla Anderson aim to change this statistic and bridge the health care gap for their community.

Miranda and Anderson are second-year medical students at OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine and a part of the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship 2025-26 Tulsa cohort. The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship develops students into leaders with the skills to address unmet health care needs in their communities.

Both Miranda and Anderson were inspired to pursue medicine because of their childhood experiences.

Miranda is the daughter of immigrants and growing up, she served as the translator at their health care appointments. As a child, she didn't have the knowledge and experience to accurately translate information between her family and physicians, which opened her eyes to the gap in health care.

"Throughout, I saw how my family's health problems and other instances over the years impacted the quality of care they received. I decided to pursue medicine to be that person for my community members to help them achieve the care they need," said Miranda.

Anderson is from Brazil, where she said medicine is a large and competitive field. Her grandmother was an active supporter of nonprofit organizations, one of which was Doctors Without Borders.

As a teenager, Anderson was inspired by the organization's work and decided to study nursing with the goal of working for Doctors Without Borders. However, once she found herself moving to Oklahoma at 19, her plans changed and she decided to apply for medical school.

"Life is funny that way. I had a lot of support from my family, and they told me that if I really wanted to get my medical degree, I should just go for it. I went for it and God blessed me. I'm thankful," Anderson said.

Miranda and Anderson learned about the Schweitzer Fellowship through members of the previous cohort, who would invite them to participate in their projects and volunteer.

Their project site is the UMA Center of Tulsa, a nonprofit whose mission is to empower traditionally underserved communities through education, economic development and advocacy.

For the past four years, previous OSU-COM Schweitzer Fellows including Paul Delgado, Carolina Quijada and Christopher Coronadohave partnered with the Uma Center on their projects.

"Chris invited us to volunteer with his project and showed us how it worked. I sat down with him and talked, then Frida and I decided to go for it," Anderson said.

Their project is a six-week course focused on healthy lifestyle choices. They start the course with a basic health screening for each participant and proceed to cover a variety of health topics, including basic nutritional knowledge, chronic illness, physical activity and mental health.

The main goal of their project is to shift participants' mindsets to improve their lifestyles.

"It's about being a little more conscious of their choices. We're trying to teach them habits that are healthier for their bodies long term," said Miranda.

The workshops are held on Monday nights, and Miranda and Anderson utilize both English and Spanish as they work with the group. The goal is to enable participants to improve communications with their doctors.

At the end of the six weeks, they host a graduation dinner and hand out certificates to program members.

Both Miranda and Anderson credit The UMA Center's support for the project's success.

"Being at a site that understands the goals of the fellowship program has been instrumental in our success. They have given us the resources to provide a space where our participants feel safe to share whatever they want," Miranda said.

They said the Schweitzer Fellowship has allowed them both to grow as leaders and develop skills that they will carry into their careers as physicians, while simultaneously giving back to their community.

"We're privileged to be where we are, getting this education at a high level. Not many people can, and if we were not able to give back to our community and teach them everything we know, there wouldn't be a reason for us to be here," said Anderson.

Miranda and Anderson said they look forward to continuing their project through the remainder of their fellowship year and are grateful for the experience.

"I've grown a lot as a leader, a friend and as a future doctor. Everything about this experience has made me become a better person," Anderson said.