by Erika Flores

azfamily.com

Posted on February 4, 2014 at 6:21 PM

Updated yesterday at 6:40 PM

PHOENIX -- With a growing minority population, Arizona is looking to keep pace by increasing the number of minorities entering the medical field.

Tour for Diversity in Medicine is helping make that push, but they arent the only ones. Its the first time the tour comes to a community college and the first time its in Arizona.

More than 100 students went to Estrella Mountain Community College in Avondale to learn about how to get into medical school. One of the biggest pieces of advice was to start early, and thats exactly what students at Alhambra High School are doing through a medical magnet program.

Most of Damian Fairbanks students are minorities. "Our school population is more than 80 percent Hispanic," he said. It's not unusual to hear Fairbanks speak Spanish to get his students to remember medical terms.

Marco Zaragoza grew up in a Spanish-speaking household. "Growing up was tougher. My parents knew little to no English, and when it came down to homework, they only went to a certain level of school to the point they couldn't help me anymore," said Zaragoza.

Zaragoza said it was a struggle getting through school. "It's a huge accomplishment for me to make it this far," he said. He said his aunt helped him with schoolwork. "Without her, I probably wouldn't be here right now, he said.

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Groups work to increase number of minorities in medical field