I was born and raised in Venezuela, where I attended medical school at Universidad Central de Venezuela. I had the privilege of working with underserved communities in both rural areas and the capital, Caracas. During my training, I enjoyed all aspects of patient care, from OBGYN to pediatrics, preventive medicine, and even hands-on procedures. I also worked in an ER and spent a year in general surgery, preparing for an ENT residency.

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Due to political unrest, I left Venezuela and moved to Boston with my husband, leaving my ENT training behind. Shortly after, I found out I was pregnant with our first child and started working in medical research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital under an amazing mentor. He helped me realize that my true calling was Family Medicine—something I hadn’t considered before because it wasn’t an option in my home country.

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I completed my residency at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital’s Family Medicine Residency Program, where I gave birth to my second and third sons. Afterward, I worked as a hospitalist for two years at the same hospital, gaining invaluable insight into acute disease management.

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During my final year of residency, with three boys at home (at the time they were 5, 3, and a newborn), the COVID-19 pandemic began. Around the same time, my father, an athletic 62-year-old man, was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia, which later developed into frontotemporal dementia. His decline, especially the loss of communication, was a turning point for me and my husband. We became deeply invested in understanding the root causes of diseases and the importance of prevention, motivated by our desire to stay healthy for our children and guide them toward a healthy life.

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As I discovered information that wasn’t taught in medical school, I found myself counseling my hospitalized patients extensively on prevention. But it often ended in frustration—after discharge, they were no longer my patients, and I couldn’t follow up on their lifestyle changes.

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I missed the continuity of care and the doctor-patient relationship. I wanted to help people stay healthy, not just intervene when prevention had failed. So when I moved to South Florida, I applied for a primary care position. Unfortunately, it was a traditional practice owned by an insurance company. It was the only time in my career that I didn’t enjoy being a physician. Although I was happy to help the patients I could, I felt trapped in a system that limited my time and attention with them.

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Eventually, I left that practice and returned to working as a hospitalist, with the intention of starting my own practice on my terms—one where I could provide the time, care, and dedication my patients deserve, free from the constraints of insurance companies.

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And that’s how ON Care was born.