Yuma Sun e-Edition

Dedicated to medicine

San Luis resident graduates from Uofa medical school with eye on returning home

By Cesar Neyoy Special to Health Connections

Karen Beltran is a step closer to fulfilling her goal of returning to her hometown to serve a need for more medical professionals in south Yuma County.

The San Luis native graduated from the University of Arizona’s medical school in May and is soon to begin her medical residency in that city.

“It was an incredible experience,” said Beltran, one of 119 graduates of the medical school. “Medicine is a career that requires so much dedication and effort. You find yourself facing many difficulties. It demands a high level of resiliency and study ethic.”

Beltran, 26, graduated from San Luis High School in 2013 and earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from the Uofa in 2017.

Beltran said she felt “ill-prepared” when she began her medical studies.

“I saw other students advancing more quickly than me, who came better prepared. I had to push myself hard to reach that same level.”

On June 14 she began her residency with Banner Health’s University Medical Center, where she will have the opportunity to focus on what will become her specialty.

“I haven’t decided in what area I will specialize, but I have set as my goal returning to my community to help address the need for more medical professionals and and better health care.”

During her last two years of medical school, as a participant in its rural health program, Beltran had the opportunity to care for family medicine patients at Yuma Regional Medical Center and at a hospital in Nogales, Ariz.

“Medicine is a wonderful career, one that provides the most opportunities to help people,” she said. “But growing up where I grew up, you couldn’t imagine achieving a career like this.”■ 

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https://yumasun.pressreader.com/article/281513639119669

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