I cherished the unparalleled relationship between patients and their family physicians, and really loved seeing the diversity that is Family Medicine. I enjoyed aspects of all the other specialties, but it wasn’t until Family Medicine that it all came together. It was one of my last rotations of third year, and I remember thinking throughout my initial clerkships that I still hadn’t found the specialty that really called to me. My third year of medical school was when I truly realized my passion for Family Medicine. It was these experiences that inspired and propelled me into becoming interested in working with underserved populations as a physician. Being in Philadelphia, I also had the opportunity to work with children, adults, and the elderly, most of whom lived below the poverty line. During my first two years of medical school, I served as a patient advocate for homeless individuals at a Prevention Point clinic in Kensington, the center of the opioid crisis in Philadelphia. Throughout my time in Philadelphia I got to see firsthand the need there was for compassionate physicians. I ventured far from home for the first time in my life to the East Coast to attend Drexel University’s College of Medicine in Philadelphia, where I also did a post-bac year before starting medical school. I had always enjoyed the idea of being in a field that is always changing, but it wasn’t until my undergraduate years that my passion for medicine really solidified and I realized that medicine was where my future was. Because I was a huge math nerd from elementary school through high school, I attended Caltech in Pasadena for undergrad and was lucky enough to stay in Southern California during those years. Hello everyone! My name is Pinting and I grew up in the city of Fountain Valley in Orange County, California. Pinting Chen, MD- Medical School: Drexel University College of Medicine Interests: Primary Care-Sports Medicine, Adolescent Medicine, Preventative Care On my free time you'll find me watching/playing sports, running, working out, and staying active in general! Outside of medicine I enjoy exercise and sports, particularly soccer, mixed martial arts, baseball, and basketball. I am very grateful to be a part of the UCLA Family Medicine Residency Program in part because of our opportunities to work with the underserved, the ability to learn from amazing faculty and residents, and the overall feeling of a community-centered program within a large academic institution. It was through my research experiences in combination with working in diverse, underserved environments that I realized the importance of preventive, continuous care. My early interests in learning about health disparities led me to King’s College London, where I spent several months as a Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Fellow, before finally moving to LA to attend the UCLA-Charles Drew Medical Education Program. I attended UC Irvine for undergrad where I completed a double major in Biology and Spanish. I grew up very actively playing soccer, baseball, and enjoying the outdoors with my three siblings. Hello everyone! My name is Fernando and I’m a Southern California native, having grown up most of my life in the town of Corona, CA. Fernando Avila-Garibay, MD- Medical School: Charles R.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |