Hispanic Heritage Month: Ricardo Correa, MD

The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix is proud to highlight a few of our Hispanic students and faculty during Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15th – Oct. 15th).

Meet Ricardo Correa, MD, EdD

Ricardo Correa, MD, EdD, director of Diversity for Graduate Medical Education and director for the Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism Fellowship at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, was named one of 100 inspiring Hispanic/Latinx scientists in America by Cell Mentor.

In recognition of National Hispanic Heritage Month, Cell Mentor showcased 100 of the most inspiring Hispanic scientists and physicians working in the United States. Scientists were selected based on scholarly achievements, mentoring excellence and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Dr. Correa discussed this accomplishment and his background.

What does this award mean to you?

I am very humbled and honored to receive this recognition. I do this work to help my community, not to receive an award. When someone notices the work and commitment I have to helping others, it is a real honor.

Describe your background and how it has influenced your practice.

I am originally from Panama, which is where I completed medical school. After medical school, I decided to come to the United States to pursue a residency in internal medicine and an endocrinology fellowship. During my residency in Miami, most of my patients were Hispanic, and I started to learn about the difficulties in the health care system for this population. I saw first-hand how this population suffers, because they don’t have the same access to health care than others.

When I started my work at Brown University, I continued to notice a huge gap in the health care system, specifically among the management of diabetes and obesity in minorities. I decided I wanted to better serve this community by volunteering at an underserved (charity) clinic. At this clinic, I started a program for uninsured individuals who suffer from metabolic syndrome. The program was called A Healthy Life. I started classes to improve their health literacy. It was an eight-week program where community health care workers called “Navegantes” worked with patients, providing lectures on healthy lifestyles, educating them about the disease, cooking classes, Zumba and meditation.

Then, when I moved to Phoenix, I continued this work at Phoenix Allies for Community Health, a clinic that provides health care, free of charge, to those who have no ability to obtain insurance or other health care assistance and those who are undocumented. Staring this year, I volunteer as the medical director for this clinic, the entire staff is volunteer. We all volunteer after our full work weeks to try and provide services to this population — who otherwise wouldn’t be able to receive medical services. As a physician, they say that wellness is extremely important and to decrease burnout and stress, you need to do something once a week that makes you happy. This work is what makes me happy.

Describe your work and volunteer experience during the pandemic.

There are two components in my life: my real job, which is working at the Phoenix VA as a staff endocrinologist, educator and scientist and then my volunteer job, working at the Phoenix Allies for Community Health clinic. It was very challenging working in the beginning of the pandemic. At the volunteer clinic, patients were coming to us for help. The clinic is limited, because we don’t have a lot of resources. It was a frustrating experience. When patients started exhibiting symptoms, we had to send them to other places, because we didn’t have the capacity to test. However, we established a hotline to help advise, educate and consult patients in their own language and their own culture.

The educational part was another issue. There was a mass amount of information coming from social media and news outlets in a language many of our patients didn’t understand. All this information needed to be clarified, so our patients could receive the best care and limit their exposure to the virus. Some of the issues included mask wearing, social distancing, isolation/quarantine and understanding if there is a medical emergency, to go to the hospital. Patients were neglecting or delaying care for medical emergencies like heart attacks and stroke because of the fear of contracting COVID-19.

What words of encouragement do you have for children of Hispanic Heritage regarding STEM education and careers?

The sky's the limit. Everybody has the ability to achieve their goals. Imposter syndrome has to be deleted from our vocabulary. No matter your race/ethnicity, everybody should be able to achieve what they set their mind to. It will be harder for some, but there are many success stories. Don’t give up.