Medical students face challenges in the United States that are largely academic. Intense course loads and long hours are notorious, but the burden doesn't include threats of violence.
A recent report from the Los Angeles Times documents the commonplace dangers that Mexican medical students have experienced while undergoing mandatory community service in rural areas of the country.
They include multiple reports of giving care while being held at gunpoint. A medical student was killed in a hospital where he worked in Durango state last month.
The root cause of the danger stems from an increased presence and worsening volatility of drug cartel activity across Mexico.
Los Angeles Times foreign correspondent Leila Miler joined Midday Edition on Thursday with more on the story.