Carla Margarita Martín, MD

Bio

I am first generation Honduran-American. I lived in Brooklyn, New York and then Union City, New Jersey before I attended Brown. While at Brown, I was very involved in LASO and the Third World Center and was a Minority Peer Counselor. I majored in Latin American Studies and decided to pursue a career in medicine. I graduated in 1991 and moved to Boston to work at the Latino Health Institute, where I coordinated and facilitated statewide bilingual HIV counselor training courses and the Massachusetts AIDS Educator certification program.

I returned to New Jersey to attend UMDNJ – New Jersey Medical School. I became involved in Latino Health Issues and served as President to the Boricua Latino Health Organization. I was one of 3 students on the admissions committee at my medical school. I participated in local and national summer programs mentoring Latino high school students.

I moved back to Rhode Island where I completed a primary care residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Rhode Island Hospital. I met my husband and decided to join the Providence Community Health Centers and provided care to medically underserved mostly Latino adult and pediatric patients.

I took a year off with my husband to travel and do some medical volunteer work. For two and a half years now, I have been working at Notre Dame Ambulatory Center in Central Falls, providing urgent care services to many needy patients. I supervise Internal Medicine Residents at Memorial Hospital and am a Clinical Instructor of Medicine at the Brown Medical School. I always dreamed of working for my community and I feel privileged to be able to help people with their health.

My husband Michael, 2 year old daughter Olivia and I live in Cranston, RI.

What is the biggest medical break-through that you have experienced in your field in the past ten years? What break-throughs do you anticipate in over the next ten years?

There have been many breakthroughs and new information which has changed how we manage patients. Personally, I am happy that more children have insurance through the National Children’s Health Insurance Program. Despite this, we have a long way to go in providing insurance to children and adults and I think the next breakthrough will be establishing state by state programs to ensure better access to care for all citizens.

How did you choose your field and how did being a woman influence this choice?

After my experience working with a Latino community agency, I decided I could have a real impact if I directly worked with patients and decided to apply to medical school. I saw a real need for Latino doctors serving my community and did not have many women role models until medical school. I decided on primary care as I felt that was where I could have the most impact.

What advice would you give to current Brown students, women in particular, who are interested in going into your profession?

My advice would be to find a mentor and try to get some experience either volunteering or shadowing a doctor.

Please feel free to discuss additional topics as you like.

I am very concerned that fewer medical school students are choosing primary care as a career. This is multifactorial but given the degree of debt after college and medical school, I think people are getting scared off as primary care salaries are far below specialty salaries. I hope more people start recognizing the importance of primary care providers and start valuing our contributions.