Prestigious Scholarship Awarded to Fourth-Year Medical Student

Christopher Hernandez Salinas is a fourth year MD/MPH student at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix. As a first-generation middle school, high school and college graduate — and first-generation American — he has used his time in medical school to support and work with the underserved. That dedication recently led to him being recognized as a 2025 Pisacano Scholar.

The scholarship, valued up to $28,000, is awarded to students attending U.S. medical schools who exhibit a strong commitment to the specialty of family medicine. Hernandez Salinas was humbled to be recognized alongside nine of his medical school peers from across the country. “It is an absolute honor to receive this scholarship. To represent my family, mi comunidad/my community, this institution and the five-year-old me who once dreamed of becoming a doctor is a true full-circle moment,” he said.

Saria Saccocio, MD, MHA, chair of the Pisacano Leadership Foundation, noted what made Hernandez Salinas such an excellent candidate, "Christopher demonstrated exemplary work with the National Latino Medical Student Association. He is dedicated to patient care, has superior academic achievement and successful advocacy work — including national family medicine meetings on Capitol Hill.” She added that they were ecstatic to welcome him to the 2025 cohort and to work with him to achieve his goals of serving the communities in most need.

Hernandez Salinas has always had a passion for family medicine. “I witnessed firsthand how deeply health care disparities impacted my family and community,” he explained. “Seeing these inequities time and again only strengthened my desire to be part of the solution.”

When he started his medical training with the U of A College of Medicine – Phoenix, joining the Primary Care Scholars Certificate of Distinction (COD) reaffirmed that passion. “I noticed that many of the physicians doing the boots-on-the-ground work I hope to do in the future were family physicians,” he said. “I pursued a career in medicine to become that person for my family and for every patient who has ever felt lost in translation, both literally and figuratively.”

Hernandez Salinas also knows just how important a good primary care physician (PCP) can be for an individual’s health care journey, and he wants to be able to make that difference in his future patients’ care. “The heart of primary care is human connection. Some patients may not have seen a physician in decades, yet they turn to a PCP for relief and reassurance,” he said. “It is a profound privilege to meet people at their most vulnerable, celebrate their achievements, and walk alongside them through life’s challenges and milestones.”

Shahrzad Saririan, MD, director of the Primary Care Scholars COD and director of the Family, Community and Preventive Medicine Clerkship at the college, recommended him for the scholarship. She was effusive in her praise of the type of student Hernandez Salinas is.

“He connects authentically with patients and teams. He is warm, professional, resilient, and consistently goes above and beyond what is expected,” she said. “His leadership, advocacy and work ethic make him exactly the kind of family physician leader our state and nation need.”

About the Foundation

The Pisacano Leadership Foundation was created in 1990 by the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) in tribute to the founder and first Executive Director of ABFM, Nicholas J. Pisacano, MD (1924-1990). Dr. Pisacano is acknowledged around the world as one of the leaders in the effort to recognize family medicine as a major specialty. His perseverance was finally rewarded in 1969 when ABFM was designated as the sole agency responsible for the certification and recertification of family physicians. ABFM continues to serve this role and is considered a leader in assuring primary care to all Americans.