Diego García

Diego García’s quiet maturity is grounded in a depth of emotional intelligence not often found in a 17-year-old. Warm and soft-spoken, he discusses his life with eloquence and candor.

“I used to hang around with the wrong crowd,” he states. “I grew up in an environment of violence, drugs, the typical stuff a Latino male teenager is exposed to (in my community). My friends used to steal cars and we would ride around. But I did realize that I didn’t want to be in that company for the rest of my life.”
Diego García’s quiet maturity is grounded in a depth of emotional intelligence not often found in a 17-year-old. Warm and soft-spoken, he discusses his life with eloquence and candor.
“I used to hang around with the wrong crowd,” he states. “I grew up in an environment of violence, drugs, the typical stuff a Latino male teenager is exposed to (in my community). My friends used to steal cars and we would ride around. But I did realize that I didn’t want to be in that company for the rest of my life.”

Then he met Tomás Magaña, MD. Dr. Magaña visited Diego’s school to talk about FACES. Based at Children’s Hospital Oakland, this three-year program (FACES admits up to 30 teenagers each year) introduces underrepresented high school minorities to careers in the health sciences through hands-on internships, mentoring, and an array of support services, including tutoring, training classes, SAT and college preparation workshops, case management services, and a strong psychosocial program. “He was the right person and he came at the right time in my life,” Diego says.

Diego had always been “curious about how the body works,” so he applied to FACES. Acceptance in the 90-student program meant a lot to him but a bit less to his family: “I am the first person in my family to graduate high school. Everyone else is in the construction or restaurant business.” Diego, who started helping out in his uncle’s restaurant at age 10, thought he would end up doing the same. “My family was happy for me when I got into FACES, but they couldn’t really appreciate enough how important that was to me, so, in a way, I felt I was on my own.

“I grew up very independent, probably because my mom was single. I’ve been like a father to my younger sister since she was 3. When people see her now, seven years later, they say she’s (like) me. I am really proud of her.”

Diego’s father, convicted of murder, is in the California state prison system. Diego reports the fact with a slight pause but then asserts, “I’m not ashamed of that or any other part of my past. I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t been there.”

Diego shares a home with his mother, two sisters, and an uncle. He also shares a larger “home” with the Children’s Hospital staff. “If there is one thing I wish could be different about FACES, it would be having the opportunity to go through all departments,” he says. “I love learning and being exposed to new things. I’ve spent so many hours here on top of my internship shifts. Sometimes, I am here until 10:00 or 11:00 p.m. The other night I slept in the library because I stayed so late working on the computer.”

Diego once came close to quitting FACES, when he was suspended for weak academic performance during a rotation through the Emergency Department at Highland Hospital. “I was very upset,” Diego says. “FACES is not just a door for me. I am here because I love being here, because I feel like I want to be here more than anybody else (does). I love the place and I love the work. Taking this away from me was like taking a piece of my personality. It wasn’t going to help my grades.” What changed Diego’s mind about quitting? “I just really wanted to be here. I couldn’t quit.”

Asked if breaking with his former friends was difficult, Diego replies, “What was difficult was not seeing more of them do what I did. I still hang out with them sometimes. They call me ‘Dr. García.’ They say ‘Next time I get shot I’ll go to you.’ That’s reality for them—stabbings, shootings. But they’re happy for me.”

Recently, a local journalist wrote that FACES was a program for “troubled youth,” a label that did trouble FACES staff and participants not only because of its unfair stereotyping—minorities underrepresented in healthcare are not by definition troubled—but because it was simply untrue. Many FACES interns are high-achieving, ambitious students from stable environments and middle-class families. What FACES offers participants from all socioeconomic backgrounds is an eye-opening opportunity to experience first-hand what it means to work in healthcare and make an informed—and passionate—choice about future careers.

What’s next for Diego?

Diego meets the question with a shy smile. “Dr. Magaña doesn’t know this yet, but I’m going to be a father. I’m the happiest man in the world and I can tell everyone but him,” Diego says. “He has been like a father to me. Just like with a father, we’ve had our good times and our bad times. He knows everything about my life but this. I’m scared to tell him because I can see him looking at me and wanting me to be a physician and being disappointed that I will have a family now. I’m scared but also curious to see his instant, uncensored reaction. Does he have enough trust in me?” (Dr. Magaña heard Diego’s news before HandPrints went to press.)

Diego will be attending junior college with the hope of getting into a nuclear medicine program—a decision influenced by his rotation in Children’s Diagnostic Imaging department. He plans to pursue medical school one day, too. Proud to be bilingual, he also wants to assist Spanish-speaking people in navigating today’s often confusing healthcare system. Diego knows that being a parent, working, and attending school will be challenging. “I’m made for challenges,” he responds.

Dr. Magaña echoed this sentiment: “Teenagers are desperate for adults to take interest in who they are and in their future, and they have responded to FACES wholeheartedly.”

Three years after FACES for the Future: Health Professions Internship Partnership at Children’s Hospital & Research Center of Oakland was launched, their vision has proven true. Congratulations to all program graduates, who have good reason to be proud; and to their mentors at Children’s and at Highland Hospital, who can take pride in the efforts which contributed to the success of the young men and women of FACES.