Welcome to our 15th #aroundtheworld! Today, we will be discussing 5 Latina Doctors who are changing medicine. Enjoy our article on Dr. Helen Rodríguez Trías, Dr Catalina Esperanza Garcia, Serena Aunon Chancellor, Ildaura Murillo-Rohde, and Antonia Novello. Enjoy!
Dr Helen Rodríguez Trías
Helen Rodríguez Trías's parents moved to New York City from Puerto Rico in the early 20th century. After Rodríguez Trías's birth in 1929, her family moved back to Puerto Rico but returned to New York in 1939. Rodriguez-Trias chose medicine because it “combined the things she loved the most: science and people.” In New York, Rodríguez Trías experienced racism and discrimination. Helen Rodríguez Trías was a pediatrician, educator and women's rights activist. She became the first Latina to be the president of the American Public Health Association (APHA), a founding member of the Women's Caucus of the APHA, and a recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal. She is credited with helping to expand the range of public health services for women and children in minority and low-income populations around the world. Through her efforts to support abortion rights, abolish enforced sterilization, and provide neonatal care to underserved people, Helen Rodriguez-Trias expanded the range of public health services for women and children in minority and low-income populations in the United States, Central and South America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
Dr Catalina Esperanza Garcia
Growing up in el Segundo Barrio of El Paso, Texas, Dr. Catalina Esperanza Garcia remembers wanting to become a doctor as a child. “In sports they tell you to imagine making the perfect shot, well for me the perfect shot was walking down the hospital corridor, dressed as a physician in a white coat with a stethoscope.” Dr. Garcia obtained her bachelor’s degree in biology from Texas Western College, now UTEP, in 1961. In 1969, she realized her dream of becoming a doctor, and she went on to become the second Latina to graduate from UT Southwestern Medical School in Dallas where she has lived and worked as an anesthesiologist for over 50 years. Dr. Garcia has been actively involved in civic affairs with a strong desire to help young Hispanic women succeed. In 2015, she established the Dr. Catalina E. Garcia Student Enhancement Endowment, which supports cultural immersion activities for students in the UTEP’s Medical Profession’s Institute (MPI). Her establishments made it possible for MPI students to travel to the Dominican Republic to research the clinical practices in the rural province of Santiago.
Serena Aunon Chancellor
Auñón-Chancellor, 43, grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, and became fascinated with space flight as a child. Seeing her interest, her father advised her to become an engineer. She attended Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama when she was 16 and later enrolled in electrical engineering at George Washington University. Following the lead of several engineering classmates, she added pre-med classes to her schedule. After getting her engineering degree, she was put on a waiting list before being accepted to the University of Texas Health Science Center. Auñón-Chancellor was hired by NASA as a flight surgeon and spent over nine months in Russia supporting medical operations for International Space Station astronauts. She served as the deputy crew surgeon for STS-127 and Expedition 22. She also serves as the deputy lead for Orion – Medical Operations. She received the 2009 Julian E. Ward Memorial Award from the Aerospace Medical Association for her contributions to spaceflight crewmember clinical care and development of medical kits to support launch and landing in Kazakhstan.
Ildaura Murillo-Rohde
Ildaura Murillo-Rohde was born on September 6, 1920, in Panama. She came to the United States in 1945. She completed a nursing diploma from the Medical and Surgical Hospital School of Nursing in 1948. She earned an undergraduate degree in the teaching and supervision of psychiatric nursing from Teachers College, Columbia University. She earned an MA in teaching and curriculum development and an MEd in education and administration, both from Columbia. In 1971, Murillo-Rohde became the first Hispanic nurse to be awarded a PhD from New York University (NYU). Dr. Ildaura Murillo-Rohde was also instrumental in the founding of NAHN in 1975. Being an active member of the American Nurse Association, Ildaura was concerned that the ANA was not meeting the needs of Latino nurses. Her vision was to assist Latinas in securing their education to provide service to their community and in helping themselves.
Antonia Novello
Antonia Novello, born on August 23, 1944, in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, was the oldest of three children. Growing up, she was raised primarily by her mother, Ana Delia Flores since the death of her father when she was eight years old. At birth, Novello was diagnosed with Congenital Megacolon, a painful condition that required Novello to make frequent trips to the hospital. Although Novello was told at eight years old that she should have surgery to correct her problem, it would take another 10 years before such an operation would happen. Nevertheless, Novello managed to excel in her study to become a doctor. Her experience with that disease left azn huge impact on her that she vowed to become a doctor so that "no other person is going to wait 18 years for surgery." Antonia Novello, Puerto Rican-born physician and public official, the first woman and the first Hispanic to serve as surgeon general of the United States. Novello joined the staff of the National Institutes of Health in 1978, rising to the deputy directorship of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in 1986. In 1982 and 1983, she also served as a congressional fellow on the staff of the Labor and Human Resources Committee, advising the legislators on bills dealing with such health issues like organ transplants and cigarette warning labels. In 1990, President George Bush appointed her as surgeon general of the United States. As head of the Public Health Service, she promoted an antismoking campaign, improved AIDS education and worked for better health care for minorities, women, and children. She left the post of surgeon general in 1993 and became a representative for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), where she continued to address women’s and children’s health issues, working to eliminate nutritional problems such as iodine deficiency and to prevent substance abuse and smoking.
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