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Pre Health Dreamers Pathways: Unlocking health careers, breaking barriers Application Cycle Location Oct. 30, 2025 - Dec. 5, 2025 Virtual Year 2025-2026 Share PATHWAYS is a four-month virtual program designed to help undergraduate undocumented students who are passionate about pursuing careers in healthcare. The program offers career exploration and focuses on various aspects such as professional development, academic enhancement, advocacy, establishing support networks, and introduction to entrepreneurship. Accepted participants will have the opportunity to engage in online events with their peers to share resources, exchange knowledge, and receive support within a safe and inclusive environment. Apply Student Apply today to be a part of the PATHWAY Scholar Program. Learn more

The Team Who We Are Yadira Ortiz Executive Director Flavia Negrete Project Coordinator Rocio Muñante Navarro Program Coordinator Maria Navarro PEEP Project Coordinator Yadi Ortiz Yadira Ortiz Executive Director For over a decade, Yadira has collaborated with students, families, staff and faculty in the educational system to advocate for procedural and institutional change. She has continuously been an advocate for students and works to ensure that students are empowered, engaged and encouraged. Yadira has also mentored students, student organizations and their allies in becoming agents of change for themselves and others. Witnessing the lack of assistance for undocumented students in higher education has pushed Yadira to research, create and establish resources, programming, emergency grants and trainings in the CSU and other educational systems. She has created workshops and presentations regarding the following topics: higher education, the needs of undocumented students, ally trainings, how to establish resource centers, the importance of networking and more. Yadira was fundamental in founding the Dream Success Center at California State University, San Bernardino and was recently the Assistant Director for Long Beach State’s Dream Success Center. Yadira has years of experience in community outreach, advising, and presenting at local and national conferences. She has also been a vocal representative during round table conversations with local consulates, immigration lawyers and counselors to discuss the needs of the community. Maria Navarro PEEP Project Manager Maria Navarro Nuñez holds a Bachelor of Science in Global Disease Biology and Public Health from the University of California, Davis. Maria grew up in California's San Joaquin Central Valley and is passionate about promoting equity and inclusion in healthcare and education, particularly for immigrant communities. Her professional experience includes work in both academic and clinical areas. She began her career as a Marketing and Outreach Specialist at San Joaquin Delta College, where she established programs to support undocumented students and played a key role in establishing the Dreamers Success Center. Maria later shifted her focus to clinical research and worked on several clinical studies funded by federal organizations such as the NIH and various academic grants. Additionally, she served as a clinical research coordinator at UCSF Mission Bay's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, where she worked with the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment (PRHE). Before joining PRHE, she also worked in Maternal-Fetal clinical research at Stanford University. Maria aspires to pursue a doctorate in public health with a focus on epidemiology and health policy, where she aims to raise awareness of the lived experiences of immigrant communities and promote equity in healthcare and education. She is enthusiastic about continuing her work towards improving population health in immigrant communities, focusing on advancing maternal and reproductive health and health policy. Rocio Muñante Navarro Program Coordinator Rocio Muñante Navarro recently joined Pre-Health Dreamers to pursue her passion for immigration justice and advocating for access to medical services to historically underserved communities. She has worked with various organizations centered around equity and diversity-focused in bringing resources to low-income, POC, and underserved communities. She immigrated from Perú at the age of four and was raised in the South Bay of Southern California. She began her undergraduate education at El Camino Community College and completed her Bachelor of Arts in Economics at the University of California, Riverside. She has researched COVID-19’s impact on migrant farming communities, which has been utilized to advise municipalities on public health education and decreasing vaccine hesitancy within Latinx communities. During the height of the pandemic, she contributed to bringing several testing sites, vaccination clinics, free clinics, and food distributions to some of the most vulnerable communities in the Eastern Coachella Valley. Her passion for pursuing medicine comes from the inequalities she faced growing up undocumented and uninsured. She aspires to become a Physician to provide culturally competent healthcare and advocate for equitable access to healthcare. She hopes to use her background and lived experiences as an undocumented individual to be a mentor for the next generations of undocumented aspiring healthcare professionals. Flavia Negrete, MS PEEP Coordinator Flavia Negrete just finished her graduate program and received her Master's of Science in Bioinformatics from the University of Maryland. Previously she graduated with a double B.S. degree in (1) Biochemistry and (2) Cell Physiology & Neurobiology. Throughout her work at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Flavia focused on engineering the first multi-faceted comparative genomic tool for high sequencing analysis for Cronbacter spp, a gram-negative bacteria affiliated with meningitis cases in neonates and the elderly. Flavia is very passionate about medical research and hopes that her background can help develop and propel projects where students from all immigration backgrounds can share their research. As Flavia continues to progress in her educational journey, she will be using her background in community outreach to lead the PEEP Cohort for this upcoming year. She plans to use various platforms to strengthen the PHD community through connection and fruitful networking. Email prehealthdreamers@gmail.com Follow

2023 PEEP Innovation Challenge See the winners for last years 2023 PEEP Innovation Challenge Read More Carolina Cortez Marure, Alexis Perez, Abdullah Bajwah Help seeking behaviors in the Latinx community for those suffering with mental illness The underrepresentation of cultural minorities in mental health careers, combined with the stigmatization surrounding mental health, deters members of the latinx community from pursuing vital mental health treatment. Read Tech Lead Ashley Jones This is your Team Member description. Use this space to write a brief description of this person’s role and responsibilities, or add a short bio. Button Office Manager Tess Brown This is your Team Member description. Use this space to write a brief description of this person’s role and responsibilities, or add a short bio. Button Product Manager Lisa Rose This is your Team Member description. Use this space to write a brief description of this person’s role and responsibilities, or add a short bio. Button HR Lead Kevin Nye This is your Team Member description. Use this space to write a brief description of this person’s role and responsibilities, or add a short bio. Button Customer Support Lead Alex Young This is your Team Member description. Use this space to write a brief description of this person’s role and responsibilities, or add a short bio. Button QA Specialist Andrew Cole This is your Team Member description. Use this space to write a brief description of this person’s role and responsibilities, or add a short bio. Button Content Strategist Debbie Green This is your Team Member description. Use this space to write a brief description of this person’s role and responsibilities, or add a short bio. Button Product Manager Alissa Rose This is your Team Member description. Use this space to write a brief description of this person’s role and responsibilities, or add a short bio. Button Apply Today This is a Paragraph. Click on "Edit Text" or double click on the text box to start editing the content. info@mysite.com 123-456-7890

PEEP | Mentor Portal The introduction of lengthy and ongoing professional education programs has brought attention to the need for stronger institutional and municipal policy. This is the program to brainstorm and build innovative solutions with students from like minded environments. As a mentor of the PEEP Cohort you will be an essential guide for our students by providing feedback. Mentors are only required to contribute feedback to student during the "Mentor Check-In" session which tend to happen during the second half of the month. See PEEP Program Schedule for more information. Coming soon PEEP Scholar Program Schedule for Mentor Full program schedule, highlighted with mandatory, optional and workshop events. Mentor Resources Mentors will have access to specific resources provided by PhDreamers in order to help guide students through the project.

Institutional Guidance: Medicine Academic barriers, such as institutions refusing to admit students based on their immigration status, can present unnecessary stress and challenges to rising students. These guides provide information on how to apply for programs that consider undocumented applicants with temporary benefits, DACA, or other immigration statuses. Student Populations We Serve: Beyond DACA DACA and non-SSN For over a decade, Pre-Health Dreamers has worked with DACA recipients pursuing medical programs and has supported research, advocacy, and training to advance this population. In recent years, the population Pre-Health Dreamers serves has shifted, and the majority of our participants no longer fall under DACA but other protective statuses, immigration processes, or may not have a status at all. This document provides information regarding individuals seeking medical programs regardless of their immigration status. California Risks Losing an Entire Generation of Physicians: What Higher Education Institutions Can Do to Remove Barriers for Undocumented Medical Students DACA and non-SSN This briefing document describes the opportunities for and barriers to expanding medical professions to undocumented physicians and provides recommendations about what stakeholders can do to ensure that this dedicated group of professionals continues meeting healthcare needs nationwide. Medical School Q&A: Undocumented Students Pursuing Medicine DACA, TPS, or non-SSN “After conversations with many medical school officials, supportive allies, current and graduated undocumented medical students, we created this document to answer questions that may come up when considering your path into medicine and hope this can answer your questions.” 2021 Guidance for Residency Programs DACA, TPS, or non-SSN This guide encourages residency programs to consider applicants with DACA for residency slots as they would consider any other applicant. Upon review of applications, you are sure to find that these candidates have substantial accomplishments and a breadth of life experiences, cultural agility, linguistic expertise, and unique perspectives to bring to patient care. Often, individuals with DACA know how to navigate systems in underserved communities that can be an asset to a cohort of trainees. Health Career Pathway Chart for Pre-Health Students in California DACA, TPS, or non-SSN “The information below is based on the most updated research done by Pre-Health Dreamers (PHD). Please note that this information is subject to change. We recommend that you use this document as a starting point to begin your journey in researching professional programs. This document was created to help support individuals who have Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Temporary Protective Status (TPS), or who do not have a Social Security Number (SSN).” 2020 Guidance for Residency Programs on Considering Applicants with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals DACA “This brief communication provides updated guidance to residency programs on considering applicants with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). In 2015, we authored a guide that provides comprehensive information on this topic and was subsequently published in Academic Medicine in 2017.1 This update provides supplemental information given changes since 2017 in the legal and political landscape.” Residency for Undocumented Students DACA “PHD is committed to facilitating the application process to residency programs for undocumented applicants by working with undocumented medical students, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), and community and legal organizations. Thus far, we have worked on the following initiatives to support this work…”

In the Media PHDreamers' Director, Yadira Ortiz gets interviewed during Gente Unidas's Podcast "Magnificent Mujer" August 31, 2020 Pre-Health Dreamers Response to Supreme Court DACA Decision June 18, 2020 Co-founder Denisse Rojas' interview with Senator Chuck Schumer May 4, 2020 Striking down DACA would eliminate thousands of health care workers, thwarting America's pandemic response May 1, 2020 DACA health workers risk their lives to fight COVID-19 while they await SCOTUS ruling April 30, 2020 WE ARE MEDICAL WORKERS AND DACA RECIPIENTS. IT IS OUR DUTY TO PROTECT AMERICA FROM COVID-19 April 23, 2020 Thousands of DACA health care workers fight coronavirus - and worry about their fate March 30, 2020 DACA workers on the health care front lines March 28, 2020

Undocumented students may be discouraged from pursuing their educational and professional ambitions if they face obstacles when pursuing health-related degrees. These tools can help you research as you begin the admissions process and seek assistance at your campus and professional program. For more resources, join our community and become active participants. Learn more Resources. Resources Educational Aid For our students and educators Obstacles while pursuing health-related programs can deter undocumented students from pursuing their educational and professional goals. These resources will support your research as you start your admission process and seek support at your campus. Health Care Access For everyone Find health access resources and updates for the undocumented and immigrant community. Learn about Medi-Cal access and find free clinics around your area. Remind politicians that healthcare is a human right! Financial Aid For our students and educators Learn about the financial opportunities such as scholarships, grants, and other funding resources that can be given to undocu-students.

Share your story We want to hear from you and your experience. Pre-Health Dreamers provides services to students and institutions of higher education nationwide. We are interested in hearing your stories. Have you utilized Pre-Health Dreamers' resources? Have you received advice, advocacy support, guidance, or training from the PHD team? We want to hear about your experience. How were we able to support you? How can we do better? Your story could end up on our website, in newsletters, in one of our digital publications, or social media, but we will contact you first. What's Your Story? First Name Last Name Email Submit you story Submit Thanks for submitting!

Abdullah Bajwah Pursuing M.D./PhD University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus (UM BC) Alexis Perez University Name Pursuing Medicine, Physician Assistance Carolina Cortez Marure University Name This is your Education description. Concisely describe your degree and any other highlights of your studies. Make sure to include relevant skills, accomplishments, and milestones gained. Don’t forget to adjust the timeframe in the subtitle. Joan J. University Name This is your Education description. Concisely describe your degree and any other highlights of your studies. Make sure to include relevant skills, accomplishments, and milestones gained. Don’t forget to adjust the timeframe in the subtitle. Education Our Background Personal Profile Every website has a story, and your visitors want to hear yours. This space is a great opportunity to give a full background on who you are and what your site has to offer. Double click on the text box to start editing your content and make sure to add all the relevant details you want site visitors to know. If you’re a business, talk about how you started and share your professional journey. Explain your core values, your commitment to customers, and how you stand out from the crowd. Add a photo, gallery, or video for even more engagement. Download CV Get in Touch 123-456-7890 info@mysite.com

The Founders. Who We Are Timeline April 2012 November 2014 April 2019 January 2022 June 2021 Informally co-founded in 2012 by three undocumented youth in the San Francisco Bay Area. PHD was adopted and became a project of Immigrants Rising.. PHD launched the first annual cohort of the Peer Engagement and Enrichment Program (PEEP), formerly known as Health Professions Advancement Program (HPAP). Pre-Health Dreamers became its own fiscally-sponsored project of Community Initiatives. PHD hosts its 1st Annual Conference "Revolutionizing the Health of Undocumented Communities". PHD launches the National Community Coalition (NCC), a cohort of institutions committed to expanding their support and resources for undocumented individuals by addressing barriers and promoting systemic change. Denisse Rojas, MD, MPP Founder & CEO Denisse Rojas Marquez envisions a health care system where no individual is excluded. Growing up as an undocumented immigrant, she and her family had limited health care options and as a result, they would delay treatment for illnesses and use free or subsidized health care. Through these difficult experiences, Denisse was inspired to become a doctor in underserved communities that advocates for all patients and is a leader in shaping health care policies. Denisse was less than a year old when she and her family left Mexico for the United States. As a resident of Fremont, California, her family found new opportunities that enabled Denisse and her two siblings to attend college. Her path, however, had many roadblocks. Due to her status, Denisse was ineligible for financial aid and was often discouraged that school counselors could not offer guidance on her educational goals. Moreover, Denisse was painfully separated from family members who, as a result of stalled policies on immigration, left for Canada. Denisse remained steadfast in her aspirations and graduated from UC Berkeley with majors in Sociology and Integrative Biology in 2012. That same year, Denisse co-founded a national organization called Pre-Health Dreamers (PHD) to provide advising, resources and advocacy for other undocumented youth like herself. In just a few years, PHD has reached over 800 members in 42 states. Through Denisse’s leadership, the organization co-sponsored legislation to allow California licensing boards to award professional licenses to individuals regardless of immigration status, given all other requirements are met, and engage in institutional advocacy in partnership with other academic groups. She co-authored an article in Academic Medicine that provides guidance on considering DACA recipients for residency positions. As a result of PHD’s advocacy, more health professional programs will consider undocumented students for admission. Denisse has also been a spokesperson for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that was created by then President Obama in 2012. Her story has been featured in CNN Money, National Public Radio’s Latino USA, and Forbes magazine recognized Denisse in its ‘30 Under 30’ most influential entrepreneurs in education. For her achievements as a New American and her potential to contribute to American society, Denisse also received the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans for up to $90,000 in support for graduate school. Denisse completed her MD at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and her Masters in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She is currently an emergency medicine resident at Boston Medical Center. Denisse has devoted herself to a life of service through direct care, research, and policy to ensure that quality health care is accessible to all underserved communities and higher education is attainable for underrepresented minority students. Co-Founder & Project Board Member Emergency Medicine Resident New Latthivongskorn, MD, MPH Founder & CEO NEW LATTHIVONGSKORN is an immigrant rights & health justice activist, and a family & community doctor. After moving to the U.S. as a child, his family has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. Having experienced, first-hand, the alienation and confusion that immigrant families face in attempting to navigate health care systems in the U.S., he became interested with the idea of working to improve health for all marginalized communities. He is a graduate of University of California Berkeley, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health with a Masters degree in Public Health, and the first undocumented graduate from University of California San Francisco, in the Program in Medical Education for the Urban Underserved (PRIME-US). Outside of academia, his immigrant rights activism has varied from advocating for policies to expand access to higher education & health care, community-organizing with pre-health career students, and federal reforms. He served as a plaintiff in the successful lawsuit against the Trump administration’s effort to end the DACA program, and has been invited to meet with President Biden as the first guests in his presidency. Now, as a resident physician at San Francisco General Hospital, New continues to engage in work at the intersection of immigrant rights, health & medicine, and culture change. He was named to 2017 Forbes' 30 Under 30 for co-founding Pre-Health Dreamers, an organization that works to support undocumented students pursuing health careers. He was named one of “25 Leaders in Action” by Asian Americans Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP), top “10 Asian-Pacific American Influences” by Buzzfeed. New has been recognized for his commitment to social justice and service: the 2017 Excellence in Public Health Award by the U.S. Public Health Service, as well as the UCSF Chancellor’s Award for Service and the Thomas N. Burbridge Award. He was the sole recipient of the Gold-Headed Cane for Humanism in his graduating class from UCSF School of Medicine, class of 2019. He is a co-recipient of the national Vilcek-Gold Award for Humanism in Healthcare in 2021. Family & Community Medicine, UCSF & Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital Co-founder, Pre-Health Dreamers and Project Board Member Angel Ku, Ph.D. Founder & CEO Angel Ku is a Mexican born scientist in the field of precision medicine at Varian’s department of Global Translation Science. His passion to improve the lives of cancer patients has led him to investigate new therapeutic strategies for cancer. His expertise in systems biology has led to him combine both experimental and computational approaches for discovering novel cancer therapeutics. During his graduate and undergraduate career Angel organized with several student-led organization to advocate for access to health careers for undocumented students. He was a co-founder of San Francisco State University’s undocumented student organization and a member of Immigrants Rising Outreach Team. Outside his lab enjoy enjoys riding his bike through California’s beautiful scenery with friends and family. Scientist, Dept. of Genomics & Precision Medicine Co-founder, Pre-Health Dreamers

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Institutional Guidance: Licensure Academic barriers, such as institutions refusing to admit students based on their immigration status, can present unnecessary stress and challenges to rising students. These guides provide information on how to apply for programs that consider undocumented applicants with temporary benefits, DACA, or other immigration statuses. Professional and Occupational Licensing for Undocumented Students DACA, TPS, non-SSN Th is document details which states provide licensure to rising undocumented health professionals. Both, individuals with and without an SSN are discussed.

We are excited to share that Pre-Health Dreamers' 4th Annual Conference : "Revolutionizing the Health of Undocumented Communities" will be held online from July 25 to 26, 2024 . RSVP 18 states represented at our annual conference Thank you to our sponsors for believing in our mission! BECOME A SPONSOR LEARN MORE

Undocu EDU Inclusion in Higher Education In 2024, PHD: 31 Trained over 1,126 educators Conducted over 31 Online Trainings Presented at 44 universities PHD has witnessed the need for additional resources targeted to undocumented students pursuing health-related professional programs, such as medicine, dentistry, nursing, research, and more. In 2024, 75% percent of PHD participants stated that “it [was] difficult or very difficult ” to find an academic advisor and career counselor who could guide them in pursuing a health professional program while undocumented. PHD is dedicated to supporting these students and recognizes the educators who stand by them as integral to our mission, striving to learn how to serve undocumented students better. 75 % "What an amazing team. We learned so much, both individually and organizationally. I will miss the ongoing consultations but I am thankful for the past year. " Past Member UndocuEDU Membership Learn More