Diego Razura is a Hispanic medical student whose goal is to uplift other minority students applying to medical school.
Razura grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, and attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville for his undergraduate degree.
I asked him about his thoughts on the Tri-Cities, and he said, “It’s very different. Memphis is a bigger city. Here it is more calm. I think the Tri-Cities helps keep me not distracted.”
It would be hard to see what a distracted Diego looks like. Currently, he is the Vice President of the Student National Medical Association here at ETSU, and he is also involved in other organizations, such as being the Co-Leader of Business in Medicine IG and a Big Brother Big Sister Mentor, plus many others.
He discussed some of the work he does with minority students, and he explained his role as a mentor and source of information for potential or current Quillen Medical students and those that want to go to medical school.
Mainly, he achieves this goal through social media and word of mouth with professors who have students wanting to go to medical school. He has also been on panels to help students apply to medical school.
Razura expressed how feels like a “Hispanic who made it,” like he has a higher responsibility in his community because he was accepted to and is currently in medical school, which society regards as an extremely high honor.
I asked Razura what his future goals look like, when and how he hopes to pursue his passions. He first explained that he hopes to become a person who can uplift his community.
He then continued to say that since he fluently speaks Spanish, he hopes to someday help those who cannot speak English receive adequate medical care by interpreting for them. Currently, he is interested in Ophthalmology, becoming an ENT (ear, nose and throat) and internal medicine (concerning internal diseases of the body).
Finally, I implored about a project he was ruminating about, something he wants to accomplish. Razura believes it would be beneficial to have a basics of diabetes or hypertension talk in the community so those afflicted or anticipating affliction can be learned on the subjects.
He also believes pop-up free clinics, paired with his ability to speak Spanish, would be a wonderful way to bridge the gap between physicians and the Spanish-speaking community, as well as those who are seeking affordable medical care.
