Dr. Hector Luis Ortiz Martinez is a medical professional from Yauco, Puerto Rico. On his distinguished path to pediatrics, the doctor says he is the first doctor in his family.
Dr. Hector Luis Ortiz is a pediatrician.
the doctor. Hector Luis Ortiz Martinez He is a professional doctor of Yauco, Puerto Rico. On his noble way to PediatricsAnd the The doctor says it’s the first medical in your family.
“I didn’t get a reference from someone who pushed me to study medicine, so, in general, my mission was all to save lives and improve quality of life of patients. This romantic thought still moves me“,
The doctor said in an interview with the Journal of Medicine and Public Health.
Dr. Ortiz takes us into his life and tells us that when he arrived at medical school He intended to be a gynecologist, but in the third-year clinical courses, he reflected that gynecology did not appeal to him as he had thought. Therefore, he later moved to the ophthalmology area, but he was not convinced either.
“In contrast, when you take turns Pediatrics I was quite surprised because I wasn’t expecting it to like it that much. I used to wake up every day happy that I would take care of the children, that I would deal with the mothers, that I would improve quality of lifeetc“;
The doctor crossed nervously.
Later, in his fourth year, he took another course to convince himself that this was what he really wanted, and it turned out that he was. “So I stayed with that”He said.
“I would wake up every day thinking ‘This is what I want to do for the rest of my life’. Dealing with children was what filled me the most. This is how I ended up choosing Pediatrics“,
confirmed.
Hector Ortiz also points to the fact that, when he finished his undergraduate degree, it was a different time and he didn’t make a subspecialty, but he now believes God knows what he’s doing because, in fact, there is currently a shortage of general pediatricians.
“When you’re with a patient, you realize what will make you happy in the long run. And that’s what happened to me“,
Physician indication.
He believes that all this depends a lot on each person’s profession and way of being, so he does not regret anything and heartily declares that if he is born again he will be a pediatrician, and if not, then a teacher.
“The other thing that would have been if it wasn’t for it medical Or a pediatrician, you would be a teacher. To be able to teach others the little but valuable you know. It’s another area that fills me up a lot. Because it fills me up so much that I can share as little or as much that I can give. Moreover, not everything is medicine, not everything is knowledge, and not everything is theory. There is also the human part, we must not forget that“.
career path
“When I graduate, I will stay in Pediatrics At Caguas Regional Hospital, as soon as I finished my residency, I moved to Mayagüez in 1986 (at age 28), and this is where I live now. The first two years I worked with another recognized pediatrician in Mayagüez, after which I established my own clinicThe pediatrician said.
The doctor adds that, in addition, he worked in the Bellavista Hospital until 2000 and in the Perea Hospital, apart from his private clinic. Later, around the time he started and joined the health reform program in Puerto Rico, he began work at San Antonio Inc Hospital in Mayagüez.
“I currently continue in private office practice and have a courtesy concession at Berea Hospital. In addition, I am the manager medical who swears Pediatrics San Antonio Hospital since 2012“,
claimed.
In June 2019, Ortiz started working as a hospital doctor in Centro medical From Mayagüez, he still has his own practice. He is Professor Emeritus of Third Year Students at Ponce College of Medicine, as well as seeing exchange students from Guadalajara, Mexico. In the same way, for about eight years he was Professor Emeritus at the Rio Piedra Campus of Medical Sciences.
By itself, I have a lot of activity which fills me a lot because apart from the daily activity of seeing patients, I am also engaged in the educational part.,” he told MSP.
Collaboration in AMPR
Hector Ortiz joined the Western Rivers Society of Pediatricians in 1986. He was its president in the 1990s. Later, it continued as medicalAdvisor to the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Scientific Committee.
“Currently, on the Scientific Committee, I am the person belonging to the direction responsible for acquiring human resources for conferences for the annual conferences, among other responsibilities. From there we also try to keep children’s medical education up-to-date“;
confirmed.
retirement date?
“I see my retirement date further and further away, firstly because I love what I do and secondly because I don’t see myself doing anything else. Maybe I could work less or devote myself to teaching instead of going to the hospital, but my retirement date retreat I can’t say yet. As long as I healthy And alert to everything, no. As long as I am physically and mentally healthy, my goal is to continueThe pediatrician said.
His projects are mainly to continue what he is doing, to continue learning, both academically and humanely, as well as to continue strengthening his spiritual side.
“I would also like to emphasize preventive medicine, especially vaccination.. In addition, one of my priorities is to educate about the myths that have led to the low rate of vaccination, endangering the health and lives of the most vulnerable, children and immunocompromised patients.,” he told MSP.
expertise
For Hurricane Maria two years ago, Dr. Ortiz remembers it as a wonderful learning experience. He says he had a very nice experience, well, he stayed a patient in the hospital for 28 days during the hurricane. “I had to go see that patient in the hospital at least twice a day, but although it was difficult, because of the situation on the island and so the patients were going through it, I learned a lot. I also learned that technology isn’t everything, and that you can go back to basics“.
Now, he says, with the subject of tremors, he also had the opportunity to go on expeditions to mountain villages to fetch supplies and see the needs of others, and he believes that for this reason the human factor must always be present.
“I also went on missions in Haiti, and that was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life“.
This is why he recommends medical students that when they have the opportunity to go to places of need, they go, because that will change their lives.
“This Haitian experience changed my life 180 degreesHe said that he had completely changed his perspective on what was required and had learned to appreciate how little or how much one had. However, he still hoped to get that kind of experience again, whether it was in Haiti or wherever, and to be in Not so long ago.
Message from Dr. Ortiz
The message Ortiz sends to his colleagues and medical students is that the most important thing is the profession first. Let what you do fill your heart and if you don’t have a career in what you do, find something else. “That’s why my favorite word in life is invitation.”He says.
Secondly, that in medicine, as in other similar professions, no type of technology is higher than the patient. Never think that you know everything, know how to recognize your limits and when you reach them seek help for the benefit of the patient.
The message for parents is to trust your pediatrician, to ask all the questions you have to ask, to trust him or her, and to go to your pediatrician first before going to the emergency room.
“Having me in mind above all is the kind of relationship that I value very much because I am also protecting and educating the patient.“.
With regard to preventive medicine, the pediatrician is of the view that patient education is essential because “An educated mother and father results in another patient healthy“; Been completed.