Eric Pillado, MD MBA MS
@drpillado
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Vascular Surgery Resident @NMcardiovasc @nquires1 | @KelloggSchool | @umich 〽️| @dgsomucla 🐻 | Proud🏳️🌈| Chicano 🇺🇸 🇲🇽 | #FirstGen | Opinions are my own
Chicago, IL
Joined April 2021
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#MedTwitter
intro.
I’m Eric, vascular surgery resident.
First-generation middle school graduate, and here I am.
Professional interests: healthcare outcomes | being a mentor/mentee | DE&I | Latinx community | 🏳️🌈
Say hi. Let’s have productive convos and make connections!
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Pro-tip for healthcare providers with Mexican/Mexican-descent patients, saying “mande” rather than “que” will get you faster rapport. “Que” is rude.
It’s not just about speaking the language. It’s cultural context/competency. That’s why representation matters.
#latinomed
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Ending 2021 on a high note...or taller note.
This is also what a surgeon looks like.
#ILookLikeASurgeon
#vascularsurgery
#gaytwitter
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I got my first manicure, and I understand the hype. 💅🏽
Most importantly, why aren’t surgeons required to do them?!? Talk about hand wellness after a long case!
For a predominately male specialty, you would expect it to embrace manicures that date to 3500 BC Babylonian warriors.
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Attending: “So how’s dating going?”
Me: “Well, I went on a date and this guy was talking about eating healthy or else he’ll get diabetes and insensate, and I said, ‘and a leg amputation.’ And that is how you don’t bring the boys to the yard.”
Attending: “I see. Not in medicine”
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The amount of times I’ve heard men critiquing the height of the stiletto heel a female surgeon is wearing at a conference rather than the presentation is ridiculous, and I’m tired of it.
Just wondering, what is an appropriate heel height for me to wear at the next conference?
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Scrubbed in a case with the same interventional cardiologist and cardiac surgeon that repaired both my mom and dad’s hearts and in the process repaired mine. What a privilege.
Pillado’s aren’t just patients, we’re surgeons as well.
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5 years into residency, I finally get to go home for Christmas! :)
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I am a surgical resident and an adult. But yes, I did order a Happy Meal because it came in a Halloween bucket. And I’ve never been more content. And yes, I expressed my frustration that they were out of the pumpkin one.
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Raise your hand if you have been personally victimized by “This may be more of a ‘guess what I’m thinking’ question.”
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“You can’t complete 2 master degrees in 2 years while in residency.”
Me: “Watch me.”
✅ MBA at
@KelloggSchool
✅ MS Health Services Outcomes Research at
@NorthwesternU
Thankful for all the support from my family, loved ones, mentors, and sponsors! 💜
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When I’m talking to the student loan company and explaining I’m still in residency.
“Wait. You’re STILL in residency?!?”
“Yes, it’s a 7 year program”
💀
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Surgery continues to be more diverse w/ more women, races/ethnicities, sexual orientations, & other minoritized groups, & leadership must be held accountable to support all surgeons.
This is why DEI is important in surgery. We can’t have statements like this.
#STS2023
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Resident pro-tip: Don’t be offended if attendings reply to your text with “K.” It’s a generational texting thing and truly means “I received & agree with your text.”
They’re not being petty like the “K” used by millennials and gen-Z...or so I think...right? right?!?
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Talking to a patient in Spanish who looks and speaks like my dad is the moment that reminds me why I went into medicine. My parents never had that moment with physicians when I was a kid.
Keep finding those moments with patients that remind you why you chose medicine.
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My partner *not in medicine*: “So what do you call that area again? The Picasso fossil?”
Me: “…the popliteal fossa”
My partner: “Yeah, sounds the same.”
🤷🏽♂️
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Doctor’s Day is a friendly reminder why I decided to even do this ridiculously long journey of debt, nonstop learning, & sleep loss: my parents.
I wanted to be a doctor after a few medical scares growing up and feeling helpless.
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"Being queer without proximal or distal control"
My coming out as queer in surgery piece in the June 2021
@VascularSVS
@VascularOnline
We have work to do.
#vasc4vasc
#gaymedtwitter
#vascularsurgery
Vascular Specialist–June 2021 - Vascular Specialist
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Yesterday’s fellowship match day is a friendly reminder to med students that surgical specialties are not much longer (and sometimes shorter) than medicine specialties (e.g. integrated vascular=5 years total, CT is 6, etc).
So pick a specialty you truly love, not time training.
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Something about immigrant parents is completely different. We all hope our children do better than us and will provide support in any way. But immigrant parents sacrifice everything and have their whole life revolve around their kids doing better. 1/ 🧵
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When people compliment how good my Spanish is (despite it being my first language)...
Should I compliment them how good their English is as well?
#latinosinmedicine
#latinomedtwitter
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Despite being in the 3rd largest city in the USA and being a doctor/well educated, random people on the street still are ok yelling f***** to my face along with other expletives.
Again, my white coat doesn’t protect me from this. This is why proactive allyship is important. /1
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I’m tired of resident wellness lectures and prefer not to attend them anymore.
Yes, I understand the need to financially budget, exercise, sleep 8 hours a night, and eat healthy (& we know these things are usually out of our control).
As a
#firstgen
gay, Chicano resident... /1
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The scrub nurse stopped me in the hallway and said, “I remember when you were a baby intern and look at you now.”
😭😭😭
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Got my
#monkeypox
vaccine today!
Jynneos, the vaccine, was created in 2019 and used for smallpox. It is safe and effective!
Monkeypox is not an STI or a “gay disease.” It can be transmitted via skin contact, touching objects/fabrics, & respiratory secretions.
Get vaccinated!
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Hearing cars honk in downtown Chicago for Mexican Independence Day tomorrow! ❤️ In case Chicagoans forgot, we do have the second largest Mexican population in the USA. Be proud, méxicanos!
¡Osea, Viva México Lindo! 🇲🇽
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Everything in the hospital is named after a donor. I’m just thinking how much I have to donate to make “The Eric Pillado Institute for ‘It’s OK to Cry Once in a While’ at the East Side Stairwell” or “The Eric Pillado Institute for Caffeine Consumption at Starbucks” a thing.
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Pros of having an all-gay vascular weekend rounding team after having our iced coffees while chart checking: you cannot compete with our speed at rounding, dressing changes, and Doppler exams 🩸
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Yeah I’m sure the solar eclipse is cool, but have you experienced the solar eclipse where residency blocks your exposure to the sun?
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3.5k followers!
Reintroduction: I’m Eric, an unapologetically queer, Chicanx vascular surg resident from a small town. Parents couldn’t finish middle school so collecting degrees for them.
Interests: clinical outcomes/cost-effectiveness research, DEI improving surgery culture!
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When the vascular surgery team is an all LatinX crew from med student to attending. Never imagined this being a reality in vascular surgery as a med student. (Nice to run the list with lunch)
Representation matters.
🇺🇸 🇲🇽 🇧🇷 🩸
@NMSurgery
@purplesurg
@NMCardioVasc
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Operating with your attending who so happens to be Mexican during National Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month hits a little differently.
🇲🇽 🇺🇸
A privilege to work with people who finally look like me in a surgical specialty that I love.
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Happy Father’s Day to the man that came to the USA with nothing, hoping for a better life for his children. He sacrificed so much for my comfort and success.
Well, you raised a surgeon, Papà. ¡Gracias por todo! ❤️
Started from the bottom, now we’re here.
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Entering my research years:
To my loved ones: Sorry for missing calls, parties, dinners, births, trips, weddings, quinces, and funerals for the last 3 years.
To myself: Sorry for not giving you enough rest, food, bathroom breaks, or time with loved ones.
Let’s readjust.
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“Sometimes you just volunteer to scrub into an open aortic case for the vibes.”
- Our PGY-2 Vascular Surgery Resident
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Happy Chicago Pride! Today was the first pride I have had the fortune to share with any family in person with my niece. Lucky to celebrate with my family and loved ones!
My niece insisted on doing my eyes, & she is my best ally.
Love is love. 🌈
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Having to go over medications and disease management with my Spanish-speaking mom who is thousands of miles away after seeing her doctors is terrifying.
Her son is a doctor and can help her. How many millions of patients are like my mom and don’t have that resource?
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My mom after I told her I got into the MBA program at
@KelloggSchool
: “I dk what that is, but it sounds exciting. I’m so proud.”
As a
#FirstGen
Chicano, that’s been my story for college, med school, & residency. And that’s ok because I made it further than anyone ever dreamed.
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“I don’t know what all of this is, but it’s important.”
My parents only had the opportunity to finish 5th & 6th grade before helping their own parents support their siblings. They came to America hoping for their children to have a better life. Pursuing education is all we had.
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Surgical LGBTQI+ residents experienced more discrimination, sexual harassment, & bullying than non-LGBTQI+ at work. Attending surgeons➡️most common overall source.
How’s your residency program helping the queer community?
#gaymedtwitter
#gaytwitter
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Happy National Latinx Physician Day!
Only 6% of physicians are Latinx, and the
@VascularSVS
reported 3.8% of its vascular surgeon members as Hispanic/Latinx.
20% of the US is Latinx, with the population continuing to grow.
We must do better. This isn’t enough.
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Because of moonlighting, I get to sign an apartment lease without a guarantor since I graduated high school. All my guarantors have been friends’ parents from Ann Arbor to LA to Chicago. Why? None of my family members qualify to be a guarantor. 🧵/1
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Happy Birthday to my sister and best friend, the incomparable Dr.
@IEMcElroy
!
Don’t know where I’d be without you. ❤️
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@MerianneJensen
@EndWokeness
@Stanford
…you are aware some medical schools don’t have GPAs, right? And the GPAs cited by these posts are from undergrad, not medical school.
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2) Blatant wealth disparity as a
#firstgen
Unless these budgeting lectures focus on residents who came from nothing and their humble resident salary is still the highest grossing income in their extended family, I’m out. The wealth gap only worsens for us. /3
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@ChaseTMAnderson
Yeah I decided to scale back and have a more professional, heteronormative lewk. “Business blonde” & “business/research heels” seem to meet them in the middle.🙂
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Can someone please disprove the algorithm used during sorority Bid Day is the same algorithm used for residency Match Day? Because I truly think they are the same.
I’m waiting.
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So thank you, mamá y papá and the rest of the immigrant parents for raising
#firstgen
children whom you inspire. And while my family has had its fair share of cleaning homes & floors, I dk who will be the ones cleaning this glass ceiling we’re breaking through.
#latinosinmedicine
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@BrooketheOstomy
I always find it interesting when people are like “you’re lucky to be getting paid while training.” I got my doctoral degree 4 years ago with loans still accruing but it should be fine to just be paid above minimum wage for a casual 7 years? No other doctoral pathway does that.
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When I started college at
@umich
, they had the highest enrollment at >40k students. Despite a public university, I was one of the 4% Hispanic/Latinx students, specifically I was 1 of the 2% that identified as Hispanic/Latinx-American. /1
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I brought Cooper home to visit my parents. My mom knit him a blanket and has turned on the cartoons for him to watch. He is a 5 month-old puppy. I can’t with them.
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Finished my last general
#surgery
rotation in residency today and my final general surgery call this week.
It’s been real
@NMSurgery
!
Thanks for all the learning and experiences, but
#vascularsurgery
has my heart...well, technically aorta.
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Decided to get takeout tonight to treat myself before I enter ✨ MY VASCULAR SURGERY FELLOW ERA ✨ TOMORROW
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PSA: before consulting another service, please see your patient, do a physician exam, and know pertinent information.
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On our way to dinner, my niece just told me, “Please don’t embarrass me in front of my friends.”
I officially feel old.
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Happy Birthday to the incomparable
@IEMcElroy
! Glad you’re my sister, and truly blessed to have you in my life! I love you tremendously. Y’all give her some birthday love!
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Grey’s Anatomy Season 3 Finale.
After all the blood, sweat, tears, poop, pus, and mostly blood, cash me outside the hospital for the next 2 years.
Hello, research years!
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The pandemic has been rough. At times relating to people is tough. But them.
Find your tribe. Find your support group. Find your family. ❤️
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These are the actual things that contribute to my unwellness.
1) Systemic racism, sexism, and homophobia that dives into the notion minority residents are still not equals in residency. /2
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Despite going to high school, college, medical school, and residency, I still find it difficult to submit an insurance claim. There needs to be classes on “how to be a real adult” in school.
Don’t get me started on doing taxes or oil changes either...
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Vascular attendings: “What else do you see abnormal in this CT?”
Me: “There is a lot of stool burden in the colon...”
Them: “We meant vascular-wise”
I’ve been on general surgery too long...
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It’s been real cardiac surgery with your hemiarches, CABGs, ECMO, valve repairs, aortic roots, and TAVR-palooza for days.
Too bad vascular surgeons are heartless, or it would’ve been a match. 😉 No really, we don’t touch the heart.
#vascularsurgery
#MedTwitter
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Taking a lunch break with my secretary. We always match on Tuesdays.
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Every day in the OR, I make sure I tell at least one of the patients “Please keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times” when they are transferred on the table...and I internally chuckle every time.
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/3 But this is the struggle of first gen college students, medical student, and residents. I am tired of being reminded I may not belong despite having the accolades because of my current wealth and my family’s wealth. What we financially do for first gen is not enough.
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Post-call hangovers are real. Like do I have a headache from sleep deprivation, caffeine withdrawal, or tension headache?
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I debated for 2 years if I should disclose being gay in my residency interviews. Didn’t always get the positive reactions, but I was tired of hiding.
We need the BEST & BRIGHTEST applicants who are welcomed regardless of their gender or orientation.
Bravo Pernar et al!
Pernar & Hess Creating a Welcoming Surgery Residency Training Program for LGBTQ
@TsengJennifer
@Surgeononthego
@ElinoreJKaufman
@MichaelaWst
@drpillado
@DrTerri25
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Thanksgiving is having an intimate dinner with your sister
@IEMcElroy
Our hobbies outside the OR include cooking for an army even though it’s just us.
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When Latinx represents at the
@VascularSVS
#VAM2021
(and
#medtwitter
helped
@v_valbuen
and I find each other)!
¡Osea, we need more vascular surgeons que hablan español!
#latinomedtwitter
@LatinoSurgery
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Glad me catching up on research and emails on my flight created a safe space for the Med student next to me to do UWORLD questions with all those lovely infectious disease & bloody pictures.
I see you. I hear you. I have space for you even though most of this plane would vomit.
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Thank you
@VascularSVS
#VAM22
for the opportunity to present our work on female mistreatment in vascular trainees! Through research, we can continue to improve training programs & be inclusive for all!
Thank you,
@ColemanDM_vasc
@YueyungHu
@kbilimoria
@The_SECONDTrial
@RDebbieLi
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As a doctor if I decide to have kids, my support and sacrifice will never come close to what my parents did. From immigrating to America with nothing to working extra shifts just so I had enough money to travel to science fairs, that is the sacrifice I will never experience. 2/
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3) Continuing to blame lack of exercise and diet. I’m good with that, and it is not a novel idea. /4
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Did you really get into
@KelloggSchool
‘s MBA program if you didn’t get the shirt?
#Kelloggbound
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Which is harder: getting into med school or tickets to see Beyoncé?
Regardless….
I GOT TICKETS TO BEYONCÉ’S CONCERT! 😭😭😭 👑🐝
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Today was my last day at the VA hospital as a full rotation after 6 years. The same VA that saw me struggle as an intern & grow as a fellow. Patients became familiar faces after years of interactions & their stories made me a better doctor.
(First OR pic as an intern at the VA)
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Who celebrates Christmas on the 24th, and who celebrates it incorrectly on the 25th? 😏
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I think you meant to say you’re going to be ok as long as you have a rich family to help out &/or partner to still financially supplement your resident income until then.
While I’ll be ok 15 years after starting college, we can’t ignore that residents are not ok when training.
To the PGY6 surgical resident with 3
years to go, who has little savings, $45k in credit card debt and $450k in student loans…
You’re accomplishing the best version of what is financially possible.
It’s going to be okay. 💜
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Happy National Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month to all my healthcare workers!
Though we still make up a significant minority in a lot of healthcare fields, let’s keep paving the way for the next generation and for our patients!
¡Para la Raza!
#LatinxHeritageMonth
#latinxmed
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8 years ago today, I got my first white coat with my parents by my side. Oh, what a ride it’s been.
#dgsom
#medtwitter
#latinomed
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Nochebuena>>>>Christmas Day
You can’t change my mind.
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Thank you DC for an incredible weekend celebrating love at
#CapitalPride
with not only colleagues but best friends! 🌈
Hello Boston, are you ready for the vascular surgery inflow you’re about to get?
#VAM22
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Ok, hospital views make weekend call not the worst.
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From sparking our interest in medical school to vascular surgery at a coffee shop in Manhattan Beach to being there through the evolution of our careers, we are so grateful to have a mentor like Dr.
@drdevirgilio
!
@SCVS1969
@purplesurg
@NMSurgery
@HarborUCLA_VS
@HarborUCLASurg
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¡Happy Latinx Physician Day para mi gente!
7% of US physicians are Latinx, but 1 in 5 Americans are Latinx and growing.
The barriers I overcame to be the first doctor in my family were a lot. We need to do better & recruit more Latinx physicians!
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@ChaseTMAnderson
Hey loves, I’m Eric, a vascular surgery resident. Here for the vibes, the culture, and most importantly to make a better surgical inclusive for everyone along with more glitter and stilettos. 🌈 👠
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¡Feliz Navidad! 🎄
And so continues an unexpected tradition of operating on Christmas Eve…
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Biggest pet peeve: when my common femoral artery and vein fistulize during breakfast.
#vascularsurgery
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A legend passed today at the age of 99. A true icon and pioneer who was never afraid to stand up for justice.
Rest in power,
@BettyMWhite
!
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This is why Pride Month is important. This is why I will not be silenced when people say “Aren’t we done talking about the gay community? Why do gay people need to say they’re gay at work?” /2
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Ok, we’ve heard of “Elf on a Shelf.”
But what about “TEVAR by a Christmas star?”
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