The decision to pursue a dual M.D./MPH degree at UC Irvine came naturally for California native and first-generation college graduate Alejandro Aviña-Cadena, whose passion for health equity and advocacy has long been inspired by the lived experiences of his family and fellow community members.
Growing up, Aviña-Cadena witnessed first-hand the language and cultural barriers to medical care that many Hispanic and other communities of color face. He often served as a language interpreter for non-English speaking family members seeking medical care, attending doctor’s visits, and guiding them through the nuances of the healthcare system.
From a very young age, I wanted to be a doctor and advocate for the health and well-being of my community and those like it.”
– Alejandro Aviña-Cadena, Class of 2022
“Over time, I learned that the barriers my family and friends experienced were not isolated events, but opportunities to improve our healthcare system. I was inspired by the idea that I could build a career around working with communities to identify medical needs, collaborate on health promotion initiatives, and advocate for policy change that directly impacts the groups that need it the most.”
Aviña-Cadena began his journey at community college and after completing his general education requirements, he transferred to UC Irvine in 2013 and completed his bachelor’s degree in biological sciences in 2016. With that degree, and experience doing research in a lab on campus, he was well on his way to becoming a strong candidate for medical school and embarking on a career in healthcare.
With hard work and a year of a post-baccalaureate program under his belt, Aviña-Cadena was offered a slot to be part of the UCI School of Medicine Class of 2022 cohort as well as the PRIME-LC Program or Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community (PRIME-LC). The program would allow him to pursue a master’s degree alongside his M.D. – or an M.D./master’s dual degree. While the medical degree would fulfill his desire to care for the individual health of underserved communities, his passion for public health remained.
“I remember hearing about PRIME-LC through friends during undergraduate study and feeling like it would be the perfect fit,” Aviña-Cadena reminisced. “I was eager to receive the training needed to be a practicing physician that could also meet the needs of under-resourced Latino communities, so I didn’t have to think long or hard before applying.”
Aviña-Cadena chose to apply to the UCI Public Health Master of Public Health program because of the opportunities he would have to work with underserved communities in Orange County as well as learn from faculty members such as Drs. Alana M.W. LeBrón and Sora Park Tanjasiri. Throughout his MPH program, he participated in several service-learning projects focusing on health promotion and community-based research. When asked about some of his most transformative experiences, he emphatically described a project on health promotion and community outreach to manage diabetes based out of El Centro Cultural de México, one of Santa Ana’s largest cultural centers that supports the local Latino community.
“Students paired up to conduct needs assessments and outreach using community-based participatory research frameworks,” he explained. “We worked directly with community members at all phases of the project and made strong, lasting relationships with local organizers.”
His work continued throughout his MPH practicum experience, which coincided with the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic. He used the experience to develop surveys, focus group scripts, and budgets designed to address COVID disparities in local Orange County communities.
After graduating from UCI, Aviña-Cadena plans to pursue emergency medicine through a residency program at Boston Medical Center. “It was the most public health-minded program I could find,” he said.
Aviña-Cadena looks forward to working alongside doctors in the emergency department and learning more about how he can help prevent disease through screening and health promotion programs. He’s particularly interested in working in the Latin Quarter – a cultural district in Boston – where there is a large immigrant population.
“You see a little bit of everything in the emergency department, from patients with diabetes due to food insecurity and chronic diseases that are largely preventable with proper screening. You see alcohol abuse, addiction, and other conditions that are often exacerbated by the structural barriers that many of our socially vulnerable communities continue to face,” he explained. “I want to do something about that. I want to make connections with community members, mentors, and colleagues that are also doing valuable work in health equity.”
In his spare time, Aviña-Cadena volunteers with Doctors for Diversity (D4D), where he mentors and teaches underserved elementary students through age-appropriate science lessons. His goal is to introduce them to the world of medicine and spark their curiosity about the field.
When asked what motivates him, Aviña-Cadena offers a quote by Maya Angelou: “When you learn, teach. When you get, give.”
