People would ask me when I was little, 'what do you want to be when you grow up?' I want to be a physician.
The only thing that kept me going in school
was really my love and desire to heal.
I remember faking that I was sick because I wanted my mom to take
me to the doctor because I just loved the environment.
When I rotated on cardiothoracic surgery
that's when all of the pieces of the puzzle really came together.
It was another one of those moments in life where I just knew that this was what
I was meant to do.
From 0 to 7
I grew up in the landfills near San Felipe, which is
pretty much the outskirts Mexico (City). The memories are kind of blurry but
they're really painful.
My childhood was mainly kind of growing up on my own.
I didn't really do any extracurricular activities
because there was no one to take us.
My parents were migrant farm workers. Growing up we
spent afternoons working with them after school
By the time I was a senior in high school
I met my wife Rita
we had a son, so we were teenage parents.
My parents came here from Mexico.
They didn't go to college. My dad only went
to middle school.
It wasn't a very obvious
path to medicine for me.
Prep Medico definitely will have a big big, big impact for
Latino students who come from similar backgrounds as myself.
Having a program like Prep Medico, I think
would be very beneficial to help be like a beacon to guide
students along who don't necessarily have the mentorship from their parents or
don't have family members who have gone through the process.
"Hey, Luis...." A mentorship is very powerful
thing. "It's good to see you..." I
actual met Dr. (Frank) Sousa when I was applying for the post baccalaureate
program.
I showed up in my nice suit, nervous as heck, and he was the interviewer that
day. it was the first day I met him.
I felt a strong connection with them
from the very beginning.
Once you're in medical school,,,yes, you're in medical school but
the struggle still continues.
Even just having someone to be like 'you can do it, you can do this. Just
having someone on your team...
It's kind of tough to ask for help because we're raised with
'You have to pull forward, you should not depend on
anybody else.
But I learned really fast through the post baccalaureate (program), I know, we are in a world where
you have to ask for help when you need help to grow
in order to be smart.
Getting someone to help you with your MCAT prep, because that is just scary in itself.
If I had done the MCAT by myself, I feel like after the first try I would've been like,
'Well, I can't do it, so let me change careers.
Clinica Tepati definitely gave me hands-on experience of
not only learning the science of it, like blood pressure...
You also do the patient interaction (speaks to the patient in Spanish)
You can be a really smart physician, but if you lack that communication between
patients
you won't get much out of it. They'll just sit there and nod.
(speaking to the patient)
Having made it to this level, where I'm working in the hospital,
there is a huge need for Spanish-speaking,
culturally competent physicians.
There is a disparity out there. We need to address it.
My grandpa, he is one of the main reasons I'm here. He struggled with diabetes
for as long as I can remember. He passed away during my junior year of college,
so just seeing how much medicine impacts an entire family
that just motivated me to want to do primary care because I can treat the baby
and the grandpa.
Even when I go now to my doctor, I always try to find someone who
looks like me or speaks like me, and
it's kind of hard to find someone like that.
More importantly, I think, is to bring in Latino students
who will treat any race with the same heart and love.
I think before it even starts,
Prep Medico, just announcing it...or just
talking about what it is. I mean I wish I could sign up for it already.
Just helping me visualize that path, you would have saved me a lot of stresses in between.
I would have gotten to medical school a lot younger. I would have been productive as
a physician a lot younger.
My dad has told me that, you know, 'I would have loved to have gone to college.
And so to see you living your dreams, just means so much to me.