Megan Aguilera

Dr. Megan Aguilera is from Thousand Oaks, CA, and is the oldest of five siblings. She is the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants. Hearing her parents' stories of sacrifice motivated her to make the most of her educational opportunities. A first-generation college graduate, she attended Stanford University and majored in Human Biology with a self-designed concentration in Social and Biological Determinants of Health. After college, she worked at Stanford Children’s Hospital in Care Coordination with patients from under-resourced and predominantly immigrant populations. She helped families navigate the health system and served as their primary point of contact before, during, and after hospital stays. For medical school, she attended the University of Colorado. There, the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA) played a central role in her journey. On a personal level, it allowed her to connect with classmates from backgrounds like hers and highlighted the importance of community and representation in medicine. She served as the Chief Development Officer for the Southwest Regional Board. In this role, she established three new LMSA and LMSA+ chapters at medical schools and undergraduate campuses. She found it meaningful to create spaces for URM students to take on leadership roles and receive increased access to mentorship. Her interests within psychiatry include working with Spanish-speaking patients, child and adolescent psychiatry, cultural psychiatry, and psychotherapy. In medical school, her research included studying mental health and trauma experiences among Latinx immigrants. She also worked on a podcast where she hosted an episode titled, “Culture-Bound Syndromes of Latinx Culture,” which also discussed best practices for working with Latinx patients. During her free time, she enjoys running, Latin dancing, being outdoors, reading, and spending time with friends, family, and dog.