I am Mexican American and Native American. I think my most important characteristic as a doctor is the fact that I listen, when so many others don’t have the time to. I take tremendous pride in what I do, and this is my story.

Believe it or not, my undergraduate degree was in music education and my first career was as an elementary school music teacher. I went to music school in New Mexico, where my parents are from, and later taught on the Blackfeet Reservation in northern Montana, then ended up in the DC metropolitan area until I moved to Richmond. I am now a Medical Doctor and board-certified in family medicine and obesity medicine.

It was sudden when my mother called me on Halloween 1993 and asked me why I was not in medical school. Within a week, I was enrolled for the next semester taking prerequisite coursework. The question was asked at the right time in my life, and it suddenly made perfect sense. At the time, I was a Sun Dancer, and I never understood why I was called to be a dancer or what was going on in my secular life. Then it dawned on me - the Native American Sun Dance is a healing ceremony. After that realization, the thought of becoming a doctor just fit in that spiritual context and seemed like the natural culmination of my life. I also knew at that time that I was going to be dedicated to providing medical care to underserved people, and the rest is history.

My dad was in the Army, and that kept us moving when I was young, so really I am from everywhere. I started public school in Germany and finished it in Alaska. My parents both came from poor Spanish families in northern New Mexico. My aunt was the first member of my maternal family to go to college, and my dad was the first in his family. They have both made amazing lives for themselves. Their post-Army life has been dedicated to helping the underserved communities in other arenas besides medicine. You could say my desire to care for underserved patients was born to me. I was raised with it.