“I ’ll be getting a little bit closer to you to put the cuff on,” Gisselle Martinez said, demonstrating how to take a manual blood pressure in a trauma-informed manner. “It might be a little tight. Let me know if you feel any discomfort and I can take it off.”

She’s not a doctor or a nurse – at least, not yet – but a 21-year-old college student. Between classes, Martinez works as a bilingual health apprentice at Casa de Salud, a primary care clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico . On top of taking vitals, Martinez is certified in harm reduction – she can run a needle exchange and give out fentanyl test strips. And she understands how a patient’s trauma and past neglect can show up in an exam room.

“My entire life I had to pretty much translate for my parents whenever they would go to the doctor,” said Martinez, whose parents speak Spanish.…