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MEDICAL STUDENT

PERSPECTIVES

BRINGING HEALTHCARE BACK
HOME TO “THE VALLEY”

By Giselle Castillo

The place that I call home tops the nation’s charts for rates of residents who
live in poverty or are uninsured, obese, or diabetic. My home lies along the Texas-
Mexico border in a small town called Mission. This area known to many as the
Rio Grande Valley or simply “the Valley,” has one of the lowest rates of physi-
cians per capita. The health disparities in the region were evident to me through-
out the time I was growing up and propelled me to want to be part of the
solution. My goal has always been to return home to practice as a physician. The
steps to achieving my goal are rooted in learning, growth, and opportunities for
me to become the best physician I can be. UT Health San Antonio has provided
all of this and more. As a current first-year medical student, I am constantly in
awe of the resources and opportunities provided to help me achieve my dream.

One of the lines in the mission statement for UT Health San Antonio Long
School of Medicine reads, “Attain health equity for the diverse patient population
of South Texas.” This line aligns with my goal and reading it before starting medical
school reaffirmed what I already knew, that I made the right choice in choosing
where to receive my medical education. A couple of weeks into the school year an
opportunity to take an elective titled “Homelessness and Addiction” arose. This
year-long elective had several objectives. It was designed to increase awareness about homelessness and addiction, and how these relate
to the provision of healthcare to underserved and vulnerable populations. This elective was also designed to prepare medical students
to work at Student Faculty Collaborative Clinics, clinics that provide free health services to underserved and vulnerable populations in
San Antonio. I was intrigued and immediately signed up for the course. I found myself looking forward to every class lead by Dr.
Usatine, our course director. We have learned about health-related issues that are more prominent in vulnerable populations, and have
had discussions about what our role as future physicians means in advocating for these populations. This elective has also opened the
door for me to volunteer at the Student Faculty Collaborative Clinics. In these clinics, I have helped translate for Spanish speakers and
helped provide health care for people of different ages and backgrounds. These experiences are especially important to me and hold a
special place in my heart because they remind me of why I was drawn to medicine in the first place.
One of the student organizations at UT Health San Antonio is called “Frontera de Salud” which translates to “border health.” This
is a health outreach and education program that brings together health profession students with the goal of improving the health of
medically underserved people in San Antonio and South Texas. The organization visits several cities including Laredo, Eagle Pass, and
cities in the Rio Grande Valley to provide health services. I am looking forward to volunteering with this organization and am especially
looking forward to taking the trip back home and providing health services as a medical student.
My goal to return back to the Rio Grande Valley as a physician has been and will continue to be my guiding principle throughout my
medical education. It is why I am thankful to be attending medical school at UT Health San Antonio. I am thankful because of its long
presence in the Rio Grande Valley, its goal to serve the people of South Texas, and because of the opportunities it has already given
me, and the ones that are to come, to serve the community that I call home.

Giselle Castillo is a Rio Grande Valley native and MS1 at UTHSA

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