Schweitzer Fellow providing health education for Latino community
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
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Kayley Spielbusch | Digital Communications Specialist | 918-561-5759 | [email protected]
Christopher Coronado is promoting health education for Tulsa’s Latino community.
Coronado is a second-year medical student at Oklahoma State University College of
Osteopathic Medicine and a part of the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship 2024-25 Tulsa cohort. Tulsa is one of 13 program sites in the United States. The
Albert Schweitzer Fellowship equips graduate and professional students with the skills
they need to be leaders in health care.
Growing up in Oklahoma City, Coronado did not see Latino physicians like himself.
“I saw my family go through preventable medical challenges due to a lack of education
as well as the lack of physicians that are able to speak, relate to, and understand
families of different backgrounds,” he said.
Seeing the challenges his family experienced when trying to access health care services
inspired him to want to make a difference. This led him down the path to medical school,
where he hopes to be a familiar presence for his patients and a representative of
his community in a clinical setting.
Coronado decided to apply for the Schweitzer Fellowship because he saw how prior fellows
were making a difference in the lives of others through their projects.
“Sometimes, medical school makes you feel like you can’t help your community until
after you graduate. With the Schweitzer Fellowship, I am able to make an impact in
my community now,” he said.
For his project, Coronado partnered with the UMA Center of Tulsa, a nonprofit whose mission is to empower traditionally underserved communities through
education, economic development and advocacy.
Coronado follows in the footsteps of fellow OSU-COM students Paul Delgado and Carolina
Quijada, prior Albert Schweitzer Fellows who partnered with the UMA Center during
their fellowship years.
“With the Schweitzer Fellowship, I am able to make an impact in my community now.”
— Christopher Coronado, OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine student
Coronado’s project, Cuida tu Salud e Infórmate, is a six-week program focused on health
education and literacy. Attendees are taught skills essential to understanding and
caring for their health, such as reading prescriptions and completing clinical forms.
Additionally, the program covers topics such as nutrition, hypertension, hyperlipidemia,
diabetes, mental health and more.
Through his project, Coronado hopes he can help the Latino community successfully
navigate similar challenges his family faced.
“I’ve seen the effects of chronic disease in the Latino community firsthand, which
could have been prevented with education and awareness,” he said.
Coronado and the Uma Center celebrated the graduation of the program’s fourth and
final cohort, which consisted of 18 participants, in April.
Although Corando completed his final cohort, the Uma Center will carry his health
education into their future programming with Paolla Anderson and Frida Miranda, OSU-COM
students and members of the 2025-26 Tulsa cohort, continuing the legacy of working
alongside the Uma Center during their fellowship year.
Coronado is thrilled that his peers will continue making a difference in their community.
“The Uma Center has made a big impact on the Latino population in Tulsa. It’s exciting
that Frida and Paolla will make their own impact and address additional needs with
them, taking on a new adventure with the same organization,” he said.
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