Fellowship: Yale New Haven Hospital
Residency: Duke University
Internship: Michael Reese Hospital
MD: Washington University School of Medicine
BA: Harvard College
What does your promotion mean to you?
I was notified of my promotion at almost the same time as I received my Medicare Part A card (yes, I am that old!), so I am in the later stage of my career. My journey has been atypical, with various career reinventions along the way requiring the gaining of new skills (grant writing, producing scholarly papers) even as I built on earlier carefully honed skills (clinical expertise, particularly in infectious disease). It has been a challenge to persevere and maintain resiliency in what has often felt like a young person’s domain, but I believe that with longevity comes a stronger sense of internal validation that can be a counterweight to the forces of external validation (by definition, necessary components for promotion), which can sometimes feel daunting.
My promotion has been a welcome institutional validation of a work ethic and career trajectory that underlies the clinician educator-scholar track, which, for me, values the ideals of joy in clinical medicine, the sharing of scholarly insights with the community at large (particularly the underserved), and a strong commitment to teaching and giving back to the next generation of physicians. Parenthetically, this milestone has shown me that there are many academic phenotypes that can potentially be welcomed to the table at YSM. I am extremely grateful for my mentors, past and present, and the support and advocacy from my colleagues, friends, and family.
What was the first thing you did when you found out you were promoted to professor?
I processed the news rather quietly—I shed some tears of happiness as I did not think this day would come—then continued to complete my to-do list for the day. I told my husband of the good news on the drive home and let my immediate family know later that evening.
What are you proud of most thus far in your career?
I am proud that I still very much enjoy what I do on a day-to-day basis and that I continue to be excited to innovate. I have worked with amazing colleagues who have taught me so much and to whom I am indebted for help in building programs, advancing knowledge, and improving our clinical and teaching initiatives. I have dedicated my career to advancing programs to benefit persons with HIV, who are often among the most underserved and stigmatized persons in our midst. Bringing meaningful collaborations with community partners outside of academia has been extremely rewarding.
What is your favorite part of academia?
When I returned to the full-time faculty in 2009, I was excited to see all the academic activities happening around the medical campus. The opportunity to learn from colleagues in Infectious Diseases and other disciplines, garner new insights that apply to my own work, and collaborate with smart and interesting people has been a tremendous gift.
Tell us a fun fact about you—something people may find surprising.
I immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines at the age of four and grew up in Queens, New York—apparently the home base of other YSM faculty! My maternal grandparents were rice farmers in the Philippines, and my grandmother died of tuberculosis—presaging my interest in infectious diseases. It’s hard to believe how much change can happen in just one to two generations and how immigrants can impact the landscape.
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