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MEDICAL YEAR
IN REVIEW

surgeon in private practice was born, and has been getting my bearings and handling some of these dif-
built up with hours of daydreaming and high expec- ficult cases. Similarly, love for this city’s culture and
tations over the past seven years. Now I’m finally here, diversity has boosted my morale. Being born and
albeit with just two months under my belt. So, what raised on the border in Laredo, the rich Hispanic
is it like? Well, I’ll do my best to explain. culture of San Antonio always made it feel like a sec-
As a trainee, I had been accustomed to working at ond home to me. Now back to speaking Spanish on
one single hospital at a time, yet I suddenly found my- a regular basis, consults sometimes feel more like
self seeing patients at nearly every community hospi- happy visits with my “tios” and “tias.” The Big Red
tal in Northwest San Antonio. My first couple of and Hot Cheetos in the physician’s lounges are a
weeks on the job were dizzying. Four different badges, nice touch, too.
four different EMRs, seven different hospitals and
staff to get acquainted with (in addition to our own
offices and staff ). Oh, and not to mention, my first
job as a full-fledged attending practicing vascular sur-
gery. In all honesty though, that has been the easy
part. Everything else, however, has been quite an ad-
justment. But, before I knew it, I was able to quickly
jump from hospital to hospital, navigating an impos- So, from moving across the
sible network of different computer systems, caring country, to starting my first job
for the most patients over the biggest area that I’d ever outside of training, I think it's
had. Still, there were more things that were very differ- safe to say that I’m starting to
ent from before.
At the University of Virginia, where I received my get the hang of it.
surgical training, the pandemic was rough, but I’ve
come to the stark realization that things were proba-
bly much worse here. In my first month, I saw several Getting lost in the hallways at Main Methodist
cases of COVID-19 related lower extremity ischemia only happens once a week now, so progress is being
that I had not been exposed to previously. More trou- made. Yes, I thought the transition would’ve been eas-
bling was that some of its effects on circulation be- ier in my previous daydreaming, but expectations
came clinically evident well after the initial rarely match up with reality. With every challenge,
infection. With the exception of acute thromboem- whether it be surviving a freak blizzard in Texas, or
bolism to named vessels, I’ve seen multiple cases of trying to figure out computerized picture archiving
COVID-19 related ischemic events that were isolated systems, we inevitably grow and add to our experi-
to the microvasculature of the feet. Unfortunately, ence. Fortunately, I’ve had a great support system
this is where our specialty has the least number of sur- from my family, my colleagues and our network of
gical options for treatment. Cases like these, and the partners. I’ve quickly become captivated with the San
patients and families impacted by these circum- Antonio health care community and the patients that
stances, have affected me the most in this transition. are a part of it, and hope they will allow me to make
Luckily, help has been close by, thanks not only to them a permanent fixture of my life.
the board-certified, highly-specialized surgeons who
make up my team at Peripheral Vascular Associates Celso F. Uribe II, MD is a vascular and
(PVA), but also to the broader medical community endovascular surgeon at Peripheral Vascular
of Northwest San Antonio. The level of camaraderie Associates (PVA). He is a member of the
and support I’ve encountered has been crucial in Bexar County Medical Society.

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