Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, Colombian, Venezuelan communities — distinct health needs
Large undocumented population; Florida Medicaid gap; fear-based care avoidance
"FIU Wertheim uses the Green Book — our health humanities curriculum. We train physicians who understand patients as whole human beings shaped by culture, history, and community."
FIU's distinctive health humanities curriculum; narrative medicine; cultural safety
Santería, Vodou, curanderismo, botanical medicine in South FL communities
Miami-Dade has highest uninsured rate of any large US county
Dengue, Zika, tuberculosis, HIV — Miami as US gateway for tropical disease
Trauma of migration, acculturation stress, family separation
Historic Black Miami neighborhoods — poverty, displacement, chronic disease
Spanish, Haitian Creole, Portuguese — when to use professional vs. family interpreter
Sea level rise, extreme heat, flooding impacts on vulnerable Miami communities
Santería, Vodou, curanderismo interactions with allopathic care; cultural humility in Miami context.
Narrative medicine, patient story, Green Book framework for whole-person care.
Undocumented patient, fear-based care avoidance, Medicaid gap navigation, language access.
Religious refusal of treatment, informed consent with language barriers, cultural vs. biomedical framing.
South Florida ties, cultural competence, why FIU, Green Book philosophy resonance.
"Miami is one of the most culturally complex cities in the world. Our stations reflect that — Haitian Creole-speaking patients, Cuban exile health beliefs, undocumented immigrant care, tropical diseases."
"A Haitian immigrant patient in Overtown, Miami, refuses blood transfusion for religious reasons (Jehovah's Witness) and also delays care because he distrusts hospitals based on experiences in Haiti. He presents with dangerously low hemoglobin. How do you approach this encounter?"
Practice this scenario with AI →Cuban Americans, Haitian Americans, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans have distinct histories, health beliefs, and relationships with the medical system.
FIU's health humanities curriculum is a defining institutional feature that will come up in your interview.
this shapes every clinical encounter at FIU.
Cuban, Venezuelan, and Nicaraguan patients may have specific political trauma affecting their healthcare attitudes.
"In 14 years of examining I have never failed a candidate for giving the 'wrong' answer. I have failed candidates for how they treated the person in the room with them."
The Green Book is FIU's health humanities curriculum — a collection of readings on narrative medicine, culture, history, and the human dimensions of healthcare.
Read at least the framing essay from the Green Book before your interview — interviewers will ask you about it and expect genuine engagement.
Narrative medicine means listening to patients as storytellers, not just symptom reporters. Practice receiving a patient's story without immediately medicalizing it.
Miami-Dade County is the most culturally diverse county in the US. This is not an obstacle to clinical care — it is FIU's teaching environment.
Know the distinct health narratives of Cuban Americans (exile trauma, US healthcare expectations), Haitian Americans (immigration trauma, Vodou cultural framework), and Venezuelan newcomers (recent political displacement).
Language access is not just Spanish — Haitian Creole is widely spoken in Miami-Dade and is a clinical competency, not a curiosity.
A Jehovah's Witness refusing blood transfusion is legally and ethically protected — know the framework (adult, competent, informed refusal is valid).
When cultural distrust is also present (e.g., historical mistreatment), acknowledge both dimensions separately and don't conflate religious belief with medical distrust.
The goal is informed decision-making, not persuasion. Ensure the patient truly understands risks, provide alternatives, document thoroughly.
They asked what the Green Book meant to me. I'd actually read it. Everyone else apparently skimmed the website. Read it.
Station about a patient using Santería alongside insulin. They wanted cultural integration, not dismissal. I asked what the ritual meant to her and how we could honor it together.
FIU is genuinely the most multicultural med school interview I did. Know Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua — as distinct communities with distinct health contexts.