I really think that
we need to focus more on primary care.
Preventative care, of course, is important long-term.
The changes that you can make in people's lives by
preventing disease,
but also the management of many common
chronic and acute conditions that can be handled
perfectly fine, perfectly well by their primary care doctor.
That's what I see myself doing.
Internal medicine is such a broad area
that allows you to see different kinds of conditions.
And I don't have a specific area that I enjoy more than the other.
That's precisely what I like about internal medicine.
That I'm done seeing a patient
and I go on to the next one
with a totally different problem and perspective.
And I have developed the interest and the knowledge and experience
in a wide variety of problems.
Of course, conditions like hypertension, diabetes,
depression and anxiety
are conditions that I see so frequently
that I had developed the experience and skills
to be able to offer comprehensive care
for those problems that patients frequently have.
In order to have a successful relationship
between a doctor and a patient,
you have to have trust
and understanding of each other.
As a physician, you have to be empathic.
You have to understand that
no matter how small the problem
may seem to you from this patient,
if it is important for that person then you have to take it seriously.
Otherwise, you lose what the essence of medicine is,
which is to try to improve patient's health
and try to connect with them.
So this trust needs to be developed
from the minute that you start seeing the patient
and moving on as years go by.
The most satisfying part of my job is
precisely connecting with people and learning from them.
It is so interesting no matter how young or old,
what your background may be,
there's always something new.
It's amazing that every patient that I see
is so different from the one before.
And you learn something about themselves
and even about yourself.
And that's something that doesn't get old.
It's always refreshing.
And that's certainly
what I enjoy the most about my job.
Patients can expect from me
someone that is going to be committed
to their health, to their well-being.
I enjoy what I do.
I have plenty of experience and have developed skills
that allow me to offer
so much to anyone who wishes to develop a relationship,
a long-term relationship, with their doctor.
Everyone should have a very good
primary care physician because you need someone
to help you find those answers you're looking for.
To help you prevent problems.
You need someone that is going to work with you
as a team,
as a coach,
as an advisor.
Someone who's going to help you
make better decisions about your health.
Coming back to this area, to San Diego,
has always been something that I've been planning on.
And I'm very excited that I'm here with Scripps --
a great institution with a great reputation
where I can see myself
developing those long-term relationships
with those patients
and doing what I like the most,
which is to practice medicine, practice internal medicine.
I believe it's a privilege.
And I take that privilege very seriously.