Meet Our Scholars

Born in East Los Angeles, California, Nick witnessed inequalities in his family and community stemming from marginalization due to language barriers, culture, and education. These experiences left him with a desire to pursue medicine as a way to provide access to health care, to prevent illness, and to make an impact on his community. However, Nick struggled with being gay in a very religious and conservative Latino family. Coming to terms with his identity in the context of antagonistic religious beliefs, attitudes and cultural values was difficult. He experienced rejection, fear, and isolation, but was able to find acceptance and confidence from friends and mentors, and learned of key health issues facing the LGBTQ community. Like members of his family who were marginalized because of education, culture, and language barriers, LGBTQ persons also experience marginalization and health disparities due to vulnerability and discrimination. This motivated him to work toward eliminating disparities in the LGBTQ community and other underserved communities. Nick completed a masters and medical degree at the University of California, Berkeley/University of California, San Francisco Joint Medical Program and Program in Medical Education for the Urban Under-served. He spearheaded the development of a free clinic to serve homeless, low-income, and uninsured LGBTQ persons, developed LGBTQ health curriculum for medical students and resident physicians and is passionate about mentorship for LGBTQ learners. Nick completed his residency Emergency Medicine at Los Angeles County + University of Southern California (LAC+USC) Medical Center and hopes to continue his work in LGBTQ health and mentorship as an attending physician.