By: Alix Yurany Baez Ramirez, MD
In an operating room, under a mask, you don’t know the life story on the other side. What decision has made the person in front of him decide to enter the world of medicine? After all, we are all stories, the sum of our experiences, the sum of the dreams we had as children, the construction of longings or whims in adolescence, and the social and cultural realities that surround us to become and build those adults that we visualized as children. This is mine.
To better understand the context of my story, it is important to consider higher education statistics in our region. According to UNESCO-IESALC (2020), higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean has experienced an acceleration in the enrollment process, going from 23% in 2000 to 52% in 2018. This expansion is attributed to three main factors: an increase in the number of students, a greater interest in access to knowledge, and a greater diversity of academic programs. In Colombia, the situation reflects the regional landscape. In 2000, the gross coverage rate was 24%, while for 2021, the outlook is much more encouraging, with a percentage of 53.94%.
I was born in Colombia in the 90s in an interior region of the country called Boyacá, a place where peasant culture and agricultural work predominate; area of landscapes worthy of postcards, with infinite greens and endearing moors that reveal the purity and magic of nature, an area rich in history and cultural tradition. There, where economic, social, and cultural difficulties are also the order of the day, access to education became a privilege.
In this context of educational challenges, my personal story takes on a special meaning. I am part of the first generation of my family to complete university education. Therefore, accessing medical school represented a great opportunity. I am the result of the tireless effort of a mother dedicated to her home, bold and intelligent; and of a loving father, a tireless worker, and an example of perseverance. However, both faced the gaps and difficulties imposed by an unequal society. My parents dedicated all their efforts so that I, their only daughter, had the opportunities that they could not have.
As in the life of Dr. Inés Ochoa Pérez, the first Colombian woman who graduated as a doctor in 1938 at the National University of Colombia and also from my region, my story represents a milestone in my family and community. At that time, Inés was the only woman among 60 students and faced discrimination. Today, decades later, women in Latin American medicine continue to open paths and overcome obstacles.
This tradition of overcoming obstacles has shaped my dreams and aspirations. While some dream of interstellar travel or floating on the moon, my movie scene was more earthly but just as shocking: studying to have a professional career. I longed to be a doctor who not only helped people in general but could also assist mine.
In the course of my medical career, the desire to achieve a goal and a life project was getting closer and closer. However, on the way, getting to know the operating rooms and the skills with the scalpel on an operating table of so many admirable women and men who saved the lives of children and adults to return them to their families; made me fascinated by that scenario and dream of becoming a surgeon. Today, having graduated as a doctor, I work in operating rooms and many of those dreams are a reality. The next step is very close: faced with the process of entering a surgery residency, I have the dreams that I have built intact, in which becoming a great pediatric surgeon will go from being an illusion to a beautiful reality.
Medical professional from the University of Boyacá, Colombia. She works as a doctor in operating rooms and is currently competing for a residency position in surgery, with a continued interest in pediatric surgery.
In addition to her life in medicine, she has a great interest in biodiversity, the sustainable world, looking for alternatives to reduce the polluting footprint on our planet, she does ecotourism with the objective of learning about ecosystems and making them known.
Instagram: @naniibaez_